Shattered Eyes
by Lithius Osmius
Summary: Tears of liquid silver will be shed as Naruto struggles to master a new Bloodline Limit that surpasses all, even the Rin'negan. Look into his eyes, the shattered mirrors of the soul. Obviously AU, Epic Length, pairings undecided at the moment.
1. Shattered Mirrors of the Soul

**Chapter 1- Shattered Mirrors of the Soul**

The life of a shinobi… It was an empty life cycle characterized by constant emotional pain as the assassin gave his being for his state, a tool that lasted only until they were dulled and useless. There was no emotion, no crying for fallen comrades… there was nothing beyond the mission. And once broken, they were discarded like trash.

Naruto didn't understand that, and thus Haku felt it his role to enlighten him.

It was a cold irony. Haku's heart, as fragile as ice, couldn't bear the thought of killing someone he could've called 'friend'. But any weakness was the sign of a dull weapon. Zabuza had no need for broken tools. "You're only worth your use." Those were his words.

Anything was better than the despair of loneliness.

"Is this the first time you've lost a comrade?" Haku questioned from the confines of an ice mirror.

Naruto didn't answer. Instead, he continued to peer down at Sasuke's lifeless body, bewildered and grief stricken by the sacrifice the last Uchiha of Konohagakura no Sato paid.

"W-Why?" his voice echoed shakily, hoping that his silenced comrade might be able to answer.

"He was a shinobi worthy of honor," Haku noted. "He sacrificed his life for you."

"I-I didn't deserve it," Naruto murmured, his golden bangs shadowing his stinging eyes.

Naruto felt empty staring at Sasuke's closed eyes. What made him –the hated container of the Kyūbi—worth so much that Sasuke sacrificed his life for him? How could he throw everything away like that? His dream… tossed aside so that he might save a comrade… It wasn't fair.

Cold tears fell, but Naruto paid no heed to the absence of the comforting warmth.

Haku felt his emotions bubbling over, feeling sorrow for committing such a sin. But he locked his emotions away. This needed to be done. Zabuza's dream was still so far away.

With that, he readied several senbon between his fingers, readying to kill his enemy and his own heart. Slowly, he inched out of the mirror.

A glint caught the faux hunter-nin's eye. Stopping his advance, he watched as a drop of liquid, like mercury or silver, fell onto the Uchiha's shirt. Following the trajectory, Haku looked up to find twin trails of the glistening liquid falling from Naruto's shadowed eyes.

"What—"

Haku was cut off by Naruto, an unnatural guttural growl rising from his throat. "Shut up!"

_S-Something's wrong,_ he noted.

Instincts, honed by years of living as a fugitive, screamed that everything went to Hell.

It started slowly. Like a drop of rain hitting the ground before the storm. But then the dam broke, a wave of suffocating killer intent flooding the dome of mirrors and scaring Haku back into his ice construct. If not for the safety of his mirror, Haku would've been brought to his knees by rage and bloodlust that would've made even Zabuza weary.

"I'LL KILL YOU!" Naruto roared, raising his head.

Naruto's cerulean irises shattered like a rock smashing against a mirror, the color instantly shifting to reflective silver as cracks webbed out from untouched silvery pupils.

* * *

"What the hell is this?" Zabuza wondered aloud. _Kakashi maybe…No, it's too strong to be his._

Palatable rage swept across the bridge like a tsunami, suffocating all swept into its wake. Foul chakra followed closely behind, only adding to the oppressive atmosphere.

"Is that Zabuza?" Kakashi questioned, only for the real answer to hit him like an S-rank jutsu.

_Shit. It can't be… Did the seal break?_ Hatake wondered. Briefly, an image of a burning Konoha permeated his thoughts, a memory of a tragedy wrought twelve years ago.

Even twelve years later, the Kyūbi's attack on Konoha was as fresh in his mind as the day it occurred. Every word he'd been told by the Sandaime regarding his sensei's death still echoed from time to time. He prayed to whatever deity might listen that Naruto was still in control.

Extending his senses, he barely allowed himself to relax –he still needed to be on guard; there was still an enemy jōnin stalking the mists.

_No, it's alright. Naruto's soul is still intact._ Kakashi analyzed. _But there's no doubt, it's _that_ chakra. I have to end this…_

The battle needed to finish, if only to confirm that everything was under control. _That_ chakra being released had Naruto written all over it.

That meant little, however. Naruto was a jinchūriki after all, and jinchūriki were dangerous for a well defined reason.

"Zabuza, can you hear me? I'm a little pressed for time," Kakashi announced, hoping Zabuza took the bait. "I understand it's not your style, but how about we end the fun?"

He released a breath he didn't know he was holding as Zabuza's voice reverberated through the mist. "Show me what you've got Copy-Cat!"

"Good," Kakashi said, hoping small talk might keep his mind off the proverbial exploding tag that was his troublemaking student. "I see you're as eager as I am to finish this."

"If only because I didn't know you had a little monster like that with you," Zabuza retorted.

Kakashi pulled a scroll out of his vest, throwing into the air and dabbing his thumb with blood. Gravity took a hold, bringing the scroll back into Kakashi's hands where he unfurled it and drew his bloodied thumb across it.

"Now, now," Kakashi playfully chastised, "no need to insult my student."

The scroll near instantly rolled itself close as Kakashi flashed through a set of hand seals. "_Kuchiyose: Doton: Tsuiga no Jutsu_!"

* * *

Sakura realized something was _very_ wrong the moment the rage hit her. Unaccustomed to such intense projected feelings, the pinkette doubled over to dry heave.

Looking over at Tazuna, she saw the bridge builder fairing as well as her. The old man looked as sick as Sakura, supporting himself on his knees.

"W-W-What's going on," he mumbled out.

Sakura merely whimpered.

Not even a ninja and he could sense it…

What was happening? Were Sasuke-kun and Naruto okay? Or was this caused by that fake hunter-nin? So many questions, each only serving to deepen her trepidation.

Tazuna felt even less comforted knowing that even by shinobi standards this wasn't natural.

* * *

For a fraction of a second, Haku locked eyes with Naruto. He stared not at the cerulean accustomed to the go-lucky blond but at the gaze of his own broken reflection. There was something both mystifying and disconcerting to see his own likeness in his enemy's eye.

Offhandedly, Haku pondered only one question:_ What kind of monster have I awoken?_

Crimson chakra exploded out of Naruto, arcing into the air in a spiral torrent, gouging cement as it circled around its host. A torrent of wind roared to life, scattering the mists and giving a clear view of the picture. Even more menacing, the head of a beast momentarily materialized in the foul chakra, staring down at Haku like a predator eyeing its victim.

_H-How can this be?_ Haku questioned, panic and fear overtaking him like wildfire devouring the brush. _Chakra isn't visible to the naked eye! And it's so foul… This can only be the chakra of a monster._

The chakra receded back into Naruto, though that did nothing to tame the rage and bloodlust. Once the foul energy reentered Uzumaki, he slowly began standing, changing. His hair became messier, his nails extended and sharpened, and his birthmarks became more defined; the dozens of needles piercing his being felt out as smoke wisped into the air from the healing wounds.

Haku tensed as Naruto turned his attention onto his mirror. _He's attacking!_

With an unnatural burst of speed, Naruto smashed through the ice mirror like it was paper, a trail of silver light emanating from his alien eyes. But Haku was marginally faster still, able to jump into the safety of another mirror just as the attack connected. Even that haven was destroyed seconds later as Naruto rocketed from the other end of the mirror dome into it, scattering frozen ice about. Haku barely escaped out of a shard large enough for his body to shoot out of into another mirror.

"S-Such strength…" Haku muttered between heavy breaths.

And the killer intent… The last member of the Yuki clan couldn't grasp words to define its intensity.

Yet, there was also that strange kekkei genkai. What were its capabilities? How was it used? Why wasn't Naruto using it? There were so many questions but no answers. It was a wild card that served to only tip the scales in Naruto's favor, but its workings remained a mystery.

For that reason, this fight had to end _now_.

With a flash of his mirrors, Haku aimed to pierce the jinchūriki with a multitude of senbon. But it was a vain effort as a second later Naruto roared, sending out a concussive wave that misplaced the needles piercing him and cracked the mirrors.

"What are you?" Haku asked, panic beginning to spread. _He blocked my attack with pure chakra!_

For a brief second their eyes locked, hidden stormy grey hidden meeting shattered silver.

And then… an anomaly.

Flakes drifted from Naruto's eyes, catching the sunlight as they drifted to the ground and disappeared, like the shattered pieces of mirror falling away from a broken frame. Beneath the silvery shards was the crimson of an immature Sharingan, a single tomoe in the right and two in the left, though the reflective pupil remained.

_T-This can't be happening!_ Haku mentally screamed.

There could only be one implication of such a sight. The mere thought was enough for a shiver to run up Haku's spine.

But he wouldn't back down. Not as long as he faithfully served his master.

Steeling himself, Haku launched towards another mirror to ready a counterattack, but suddenly jerked to a stop as a crushing grip snatched his ankle from midair. Haku had less than a quarter of second to gaze downward towards his opponent's crimson sight before Naruto swung him over his shoulder into the concrete. The faux hunter-nin gasped as air escaped his lungs and his ribs cracked.

Just as he feared; the fake Sharingan worked as well as a natural one.

It was only a second of respite before Naruto swung Hack back over, this time brutally smashing the taller boy's back into concrete that cracked from impact. Haku sharply gasped as he felt several vertebrae crack, igniting pain all over his body. With a roar, Uzumaki swung his opponent into the air, inadvertently sending Haku into the confines of an ice mirror.

Upset at the loss of his quarry, Naruto leapt after, smashing the mirror but barely missing Haku who leapt out. The enraged jinchūriki made to follow having caught the movement with the faux Sharingan, but Haku flashed his mirrors and stalled his advance.

"Shit…" Haku muttered as he shakily stood.

His sense of taste was encompassed with the flavor of a blood; his damaged ribs made it arduous to catch any air; the cracked vertebrae were making movement hampered, but not impossible –if anything, it just hurt.

But Naruto wouldn't offer him any reprieve. Crimson light trailing his eye's movements, the younger boy smashed through the ice. Acting on instinct, Haku countered by rocketing out of a shard down towards Naruto, but the blond leapt out of the way in a midair spiral.

Once his toes graced the cold ground, Naruto pushed off the ground with movement laced with heavy chakra, claws pulled back for a strike capable of disfiguring.

_Shit, I can't retreat!_ If Haku turned his back here, even a glancing blow would be debilitating.

Haku formed a half hand seal and swung an arm to meet the attack, a blade of ice extending from his wrist.

_Hyōton: Hyōshōken no Jutsu!_ Haku mentally exclaimed.

Sword met claws in a stalemate, but Naruto pushed into the attack, his nail tips a mere inch from Haku's face. But Zabuza's accomplice dug his feet into the ground with chakra, an act that almost broke his ankles from the sheer force of Naruto's attack. Mustering what strength remained at the bottom of the well, Haku pushed back.

As Naruto pushed into the blade, ignoring the gouge in his hand, his eyes shifted. The Sharingan stopped spinning and shattered, paling until those broken, reflective irises returned.

For not the last time, Haku wondered what this kekkei genkai was truly capable of. Though, a second later, he'd regret such a thought when the shards fell away again, this time revealing stormy gray.

His own eyes.

In the span of a second, frost covered Naruto's fingers followed closely by water in the air condensing into icicle-like claws. They grew fast enough to force Haku to leap away to prevent getting stabbed.

The retreat, however, was the wrong move as Naruto suddenly flared his chakra, scattering the mists, and jumped after, slipping past Haku's guard. The older boy dodged the initial ice claw stab, earning only several gouges on his mask, but received a left-hook glowing with obscene chakra levels that sent him straight through one of his diamond-hard mirrors, skipping across the ground like a rock across water.

The boy's mask slowly crumbled as he demurely rose. Looking towards his adversary, he watched as his remaining mirrors, bereft of the chakra that fed them, crumbled as the demonic boy eyed him with something akin to murder with his stormy-colored eyes, his body shadowed from the light behind.

_Zabuza…_ Haku thought miserably, _I can't… defeat this boy. I am…_

He watched as Naruto dug his ice claws into the ground and charged at him, raking the concrete as he dragged his weapons behind him. Haku closed his eyes, awaiting death as the last piece of his mask fell away.

* * *

Sakura almost got whiplash from how fast the air changed. One second, she felt like she was dying from all of the killer intent, the next she felt a heavy weight come off her shoulders. The change was so significant she actually stumbled.

"Holy shit, what was that?" Tazuna almost yelled. "You're a shinobi, right? Do you know what that was?"

"N- No," Sakura shakily answered. "I've never felt anything like that."

Whatever it was, Sakura hoped she'd never see it personally.

* * *

When the pain never came, Haku slowly opened his eyes to see Naruto's ice claws shatter and fall to the ground, leaving his hand a foot away from his forehead. Looking towards the blond's face, his messy hair shadowed his eyes, but the mercurial tears once again rolled down his face.

"Y-You're from that time…" Naruto muttered.

"Why did you stop?" Haku questioned. "I killed your friend. So, why can't you kill me?"

Haku's answer was a left uppercut that sent him to the ground. It was nothing compared to that last hit he'd taken, but it was enough to jar a couple teeth loose.

He stayed on the ground for several seconds before rasping out: "You're going against everything that you were taught as a shinobi."

"I don't care!" spat the blond.

Haku slowly rose, spitting pooling blood from his mouth. His eyes caught Naruto's and he could see the irises again taking up their shattered mirror appearance. To Haku's utter astonishment, the shards of mirror comprising the irises fell away again, this time revealing the crystal-blue Naruto was associated with; the pupils, though, still retained the reflective surface.

"You… You have a kekkei genkai… like me," Haku muttered as he stood to his full height.

Naruto shook his head, throwing the silvery tears everywhere. "No, I don't."

"But you do. You used my Hyōton and the Uchiha's Sharingan," countered Haku.

"What?" asked the bewildered blond. "But I'm not an Uchiha! Or related—"

"I guess you too have little understanding of what you're capable of," Haku interjected. "It'd be more accurate to say you copied our abilities."

Naruto was silent. "Is that even possible?"

Haku's face fell into a sad smile. "I don't know either. It's difficult to comprehend what you're capable of. But really, your eyes are beautiful, if a little disconcerting."

"Thanks… I guess."

For Naruto, the situation was difficult to swallow, if only because there was so much to take in. Sasuke was dead, Haku was defeated, he used the Kyūbi's chakra, and suddenly he was being told he had a kekkei genkai (and why he was being complimented for his eyes was a little beyond him). Any other person might've been foaming at the mouth from brain overload.

But he could worry about his personal issues later. Right now, a broken enemy stood before him; the confrontation had yet to end.

Haku had been dreading what was coming, but it was a necessity. "Still, you should kill me. It's only right as a shinobi. Too many make the mistake of letting their enemy leave only with their lives."

Naruto's face screwed into anger. "Screw that!"

"But can't you understand that pain, of being alone, unneeded, not having a dream… the pain of simply being alone?"

Naruto took an uneasy step back as Haku named his the deepest scar of his heart with such ease.

"…What are you trying to say?" the blond stumbled out.

Haku painfully smiled, framed by the blood seeping from his lips. "Zabuza has no need for a weak shinobi. You have taken away my reason to live."

Anger once again bubbled over. "Why! How can you serve a scumbag like that? Why is he your only important person!"

The fake hunter-nin sighed. "You know, I had other people close to me long ago. My parents…"

With a sigh, Haku told his life story, how his father feared him and his mother and tried to murder him, only to die by his own hands. Then he went on to explain how he wandered the land as nothing but a common orphan until Zabuza found and trained him.

Naruto stood silent as he digested everything, pondering how they could be so alike.

"Maybe we could have been friends under different circumstances," the blond finally said.

Haku gave a soft, kind smile. "Maybe we could have been. Before I ask of a favor from you… Your eyes… what is that dōjutsu you used?"

Naruto was abruptly reminded of his own issues. "I don't… I don't know. How could I have one?"

"Look at your tears," ordered Haku, still donning his soft smile.

The blond obliged and wiped a tear away from his cheek. Holding the droplet near his face, he saw what could've passed as mercury or even liquid silver. Curious, he ran the fluid between his fingers. The liquid felt cold, but yet smooth –almost pleasant—to the touch.

He back towards Haku who still wore a sad smile.

For not the first time in his life, he couldn't prevent himself pondering who his parents were. If he had kekkei genkai, that meant he had a clan, right?

"Your eyes, they're very beautiful." Before he could delve too deeply into ponderings, he returned to reality thanks to Haku's compliment.

"Thanks," said Naruto slowly. He'd take Haku's word for it; it wasn't like he could see them right now.

"Now about that favor… when all of this is done, I have a scroll with all the techniques I invented at our hideout. It's about a mile outside of town," the older boy explained.

"What's this favor?" the jinchūriki asked with caution –ninja didn't just hand over scrolls with valuable techniques without good reason.

Haku's sad smile was the only warning Naruto had. "I want you to kill me."

The blond blanched and quickly retaliated, "No way! I won't do it!"

"Please," Haku pleaded, almost begging. "I have no reason to live. I am but a broken tool, and Zabuza doesn't have need for a something that is of no use to him."

"There… There has to be another way," Naruto futilely suggested, hoping he could change the boy's mind.

Haku wouldn't take no for answer. "I wish there was another way. I'm sorry that you have to stain your hands with my blood."

"Is…Is this the only way?" the whiskered blond tried to reason.

"Yes," was unhesitant answer.

Silver tears fall as Naruto pulled a kunai out of his pouch with a twirl and gripped it. He closed his eyes as he charged for the smiling boy, but instead of piercing flesh as he had been asked, he opened his eyes to see Haku stopping him with a senbon whilst performing a single half seal.

"Forgive me, but my master has one last use for me. If I had any last wish, it'd be to keep those beautiful eyes of yours safe," with that, he delved into his ice mirror and disappeared.

When Haku was finally seen again, he was no longer among the living.

* * *

When all was said and done, Zabuza killed Gato using a kunai held between his teeth, his arms useless thanks to wounds incurred from his earlier battle with Kakashi Hatake. In the end, Zabuza's life was forfeit to the Shinigami when the mercenaries struck back, stabbing him with a veritable armory of weaponry. The small army of men had then turned their attention onto Team Seven, but the villagers –led by Inari—had arrived on time.

As the villagers rejoiced, Naruto faded into the background away from the crowds and his teammates.

Amidst the cheering and the laughter, he stared into a puddle of water, examining his eyes. His irises retained the crystal-blue he was used to, but his pupils maintained the mirrors they transfigured into. Channeling chakra into his eyes, Naruto's irises shattered and paled into broken mirrors.

It was humorous in an empty way to see his own reflection in his eyes.

Cutting off the chakra, he watched the shards of mirror within his irises fell away to reveal cerulean underneath.

_If I had any last wish, it'd be to keep your beautiful eyes safe._ Haku's last request reverberated loudly in his mind.

Naruto looked over his shoulder spying Sasuke being supported by Sakura, both retelling their accounts of the battle, though Sasuke looked like he wanted to be elsewhere (a bed while sleeping maybe?). Looking elsewhere, he found his teacher also being accosted by several villagers, though his face was hidden by his signature orange book.

Good. Only the dead knew of his eyes.

To Naruto, his eyes were a revelation, proof that he wasn't just a nobody –albeit, a nobody with a demon bound into his gut. And he desired so much to declare it to the world. To proudly announce to the world that he wasn't just an orphan anymore, to brag that his eyes were cooler than Sasuke's, and to show the ninja world he had the makings of a Hokage in his genetics.

But Haku's last and only request bound his ego like a chain stays a dog from roaming rampantly.

Looking up at the sky, watching the setting sun, he pondered.

Even he, despite being the dead-last of his class, knew the value of a Kekkei Genkai that copied others. It was the equivalent of a priceless treasure among shinobi. What was to stop from someone from plucking his eyes out of his skull for it?

Naruto tore his gaze from the evening palette and stared at his reflection in the puddle of water, once more staring at his silvery pupils.

"Haku, I promise I'll protect these eyes," Naruto pledged.

With that oath, the ninja world would never be same.

Kill Joy no Jutsu (A.K.A. Author's Note): Welcome everybody to my newest story. Yes, this is another 'Naruto can copy Bloodline Limits' fic, but before you all shake your heads, please note that I'm not like other authors who have tried this concept and failed to deliver because of various issues. I will not make Naruto god-like, I hate it when authors do that and this limit will have major weaknesses that will be explored later on in the fic.

Pairings for this story (and I cannot stress this enough) are unconfirmed. I want you all to enjoy a story with character development, not watch tonsil hockey like it's ESPN. Relationships with Naruto will develop, I can promise you this, but they will be slow and won't be confirmed. Now, there are a couple of relationships I will put in here for your enjoyment, but don't expect any twelve-year-olds to begin having make-out sessions.

Now that we're past the pleasantries, I'll be posting any original jutsu, Limits, etc. down here for you guys to read up on and get more in depth information about whatever it is I'm trying to explain.

Now, please remain seated throughout the entire performance.

**Update 6/23/12:** It's hard to believe I posted this story almost five years ago. It's been quite the ride to this point as an author. Now, my abilities as a writer are a far vast gap compared to the original chapter. Not only that, the Naruto manga has come a long way since I posted this and I want to incorporate some of that new material.

Anyways, compared to the last version of this chapter, I tried to flesh out more of the thoughts and feelings of the characters and tried to bring some of the scenes to somewhat resemble the original manga, which I've reread recently. Some of you who are veterans of this story should recognize some of the differences, I hope (it has been a while since I last updated…).

Going on… I added a jutsu not originally included in this chapter, and I also translated them. Originally, I kept everything English, but I figured it'd be fun to at least see some Japanese. Please keep in mind, though, that I'm still a rooky at this.

Also, for more shits and giggles, I'll include a music playlist for each chapter. I listen to music while I write, and if you're curious about what I like to hear, well here it is… after the forbidden scroll of jutsu.

Beyond that, I'm sorry for the poor quality of the next chapters. I haven't gotten to fully updating them yet.

Forbidden Scroll of Techniques:

Kuchiyose: Doton: Tsuiga no Jutsu [口寄せ・土遁・追牙の術] — Summoning: Earth Release: Tracking Fang Technique

Ninjutsu – B-Rank: A high-grade tracking-offensive ninjutsu where one calls upon ninken with a summoning, so they can tail the target from undergound and assault it simultaneously with their fangs.

Hyoton:Hyōshōken no Jutsu [氷遁・氷晶剣の術] – Ice Release: Crystal Ice Sword Technique

Ninjutsu – Kekkei Genkai Technique: An ice technique created by Haku. It creates blades of ice attached at the wrists that extend past the hand; size can vary widely, according to purpose and desire. The ice itself is as strong as steel because of the chakra fed into the weapons.

Skilled users can launch the swords from the wrists like missiles, making this also a useful long-range attack if backed into a corner.

Lithius Osmius's Playlist:

_Shattered Eyes main theme_: The Clincher by Chevelle  
_Naruto (with Kyūbi chakra) vs. Haku_: Bring Them to Light by Apocalyptica  
_Naruto and Haku's after battle meeting_: In Between by Linkin Park  
_After battle_: The Hard Way by Fort Minor  
_Shattered Eyes end theme_: Here Me Now by Framing Hanley


	2. Mirror Flower Eye

**Chapter 2- Mirror Flower Eye**

Naruto kept his distance from his team to keep them from seeing his shimmering, mirror-like pupils as they returned to Tazuna's home. He even went as far as to walk slower so that they wouldn't notice his eyes.

Every so often his pupils would glint in the moonlight, making it very difficult to hide his new Doujutsu. Thankfully none of them, including Kakashi who had his nose buried in his porn, had taken any notice.

Naruto quickly narrowed his eyes while putting his hands behind his head and feigned stupidity as Sasuke looked back at him with a sneer.

The Uchiha unfortunately had to rely on his pink haired teammate to help him walk back. He would have chosen the Dobe over her, but Naruto had been a royal ass, saying that he didn't want to. Needless to say, Sasuke wasn't in a cheerful mood.

With a snort, the Uchiha made his thoughts known: "Why the hell are you moving so slow? I'm the one that was almost killed."

"Why does it matter to you, you ungrateful bastard! I was the one that saved your ass after you got turned into a human pincushion!" retorted Naruto while narrowing his eyes, further preventing the group that now had their attention on him from seeing his pupils.

Sakura turned on to him with an aggravated look while still helping her crush along. "Naruto, be polite! Sasuke has had it rough!"

"Well, at least one good thing came out of this: Sasuke getting his ass handed to him," added the sun-kissed blond with a smile. _Not to mention this cool Doujutsu I got during the fight,_ he added mentally. _Now if only I could figure out how the damn thing works…_

Kakashi looked up from his perverted, orange book and added his two cents into the conversation before things could get out of hand. "Now, now you guys. The time for arguing should be saved for a later date. Right now we're tired and we need a good night's rest."

Nobody was going to argue. Indeed, they saw better days, and sleep sounded like a very nice thing to do at the moment.

Sasuke gave one last snort of annoyance before he turned back to the road with Sakura quickly following suit, leaving their blond teammate to his thoughts once more.

Naruto sighed, knowing that he wasn't going to be able to sleep tonight. He lost someone that could've been a close friend had it not been for circumstances. For him, it was a time to mourn, not to celebrate.

The living maelstrom looked up as he caught sight of the lights of Tazuna's home and immediately began slowing down before fully stopping at the edge of the streaming lights. He didn't know if his eyes would show if he were to step into the lights of the glowing home, and right now, he didn't feel enough like a gambling person to test it.

Kakashi turned around as he spied his most unpredictable student suddenly coming to a halt as they entered the household, staying a comfortable range away from the lights.

The scarecrow wasn't sure if he was seeing things, but he would've sworn that Naruto's eyes were glinting. He quickly shook his head to make sure it wasn't an illusion, only to see Naruto close his eyes before he could spy it again.

"Are you coming?" he asked.

Naruto kept his eyes as narrow as possible as he answered with a solemn voice –it wasn't something he wanted to slip out, but somehow it just happened. "No, I… I think I'm going to stay out here a bit and think about things."

Kakashi stared at him a minute, caught off guard by the tone Naruto used. It was very uncharacteristic for the hyperactive blond to speak with sad tones; it was just foreign to hear that voice come out of him.

"Is there something you would like to talk about?" the former ANBU captain asked, genuine concern staining his words.

"Don't worry, Kakashi-sensei! It was just my first battle and I kind of need to sort things out a bit," Naruto answered with as cheer as he could muster.

The silver-haired man stared at him with his single eye for what seemed like minutes and then finally nodded. Naruto kept his smile on as he watched his sensei enter the household. It was a thousand times slower than Naruto would've liked, but then again, his teacher was suffering from overuse of his _Sharingan_ and a variety of gashes. As the door latched, the mask he had put on quickly crumbled, showing his true emotions once more.

With a grief filled look, he walked back to the boardwalk and sat down at the edge of the pier, crossing his legs. Naruto unzipped his jacket to allow the cool ocean breeze to gently caress his body not unlike a mother hugging a child after a long day. With a saddened look, he stared into the water. He watched as his moonlit, distorted reflection in the waves rippled and shifted, catching the newfound shine of his eyes.

More out of curiosity to see his fully activated eyes once more, he added chakra to them, shattering his irises and turning the crystal-blue into reflective, broken mirrors.

Haku was right about one thing: they were very beautiful.

He sighed with his eyes still activated, remembering what he called them: the _Miragan_.

"That doesn't even sound cool at all," Naruto told the air with a growl.

It needed a better name; it was just too simplistic. He needed something much more eloquent and graceful rather than the half-hazard name he had chosen at the spur of the moment. After all, it was a Bloodline Limit that copied other Limits; it needed to be named something awesome.

He turned his attention to the moon above, remembering what Haku had told him about his eyes. The faux Hunter-Nin had thought they were the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen before.

"What would you call it, Haku?" Naruto asked the sky, hoping that maybe the dark-haired boy would come out of nowhere and give him the answer.

Naruto turned his attention back to his reflection, hoping that maybe if he stared at his distorted image long enough that something would fly into his mind.

He needed something that could possibly describe the beauty of the eyes, but at the same time, place fear into whomever he'd fight in the future.

The blond sighed as he realized something else. How was he going to explain this to his teammates? He grimaced at the thought of having to tell Sasuke about his silvery eyes. For all he knew, the Uchiha might go into a tizzy at not being the only one in the group that had a Limit.

But then again, why should he tell anyone? After all, he made a promise to Haku that he would protect his eyes.

Naruto then began to wonder what time it was, but if he had to guess, and from looking at the moon, it was easily around ten-fifteen at night. He sighed as he realized that it was going to be a long night.

He needed something to do, but what was there besides training? Well, he still needed to a pay a visit to the former residence of the Demon of the Hidden Mist and fulfill Haku's last request, but was that smart? The blond prankster ran the thought around his head for about a second and made up his mind for what he was going to do for the rest of the night: he was going to find Zabuza and Haku's hideout.

But he had one problem, traveling in a thick forest at night was difficult, even with a full moon. What he needed was a way to see in the dark, but he doubted that his mirror-like eyes would allow him to do that. He needed another Doujutsu, one that could at least see better… something like the _Sharingan_.

The Uzumaki groaned under his breath. He still didn't have a clue how to use the different Limits he copied, but now was a better time than ever to practice.

He set his face into a look of determination as he kneeled down on the edge of the docks and stared into his distorted reflection, counting off ways he could possibly approach this. For starters, he tried to will his eyes to do what he wanted, to give him the spinning tomoa of a Pinwheel Eye.

Naruto growled in annoyance, starting to get aggravated, but his efforts weren't in vain as he watched the mirror shards of his eyes fall out to reveal a _Sharingan_.

He fully stood and began to look around the darkness, his spinning, crimson eyes standing out in the ebony air. Everything took on a higher clarity, giving him a sharper picture of the darkened world around him. Naruto smiled as he began to make out shapes of the objects around him. It didn't allow him to see in the dark but at least it made everything easier to spot.

The blond turned his attention onto the house to get his supplies and decided that this was the best place to test out his new eyes, since everyone gone to bed and were sawing logs.

-0-

Naruto slowly opened the door and looked around to see that the coast was clear. He took a deep breath as he glided across the floor, not making a single noise as only a trained shinobi could do. His eyes shifted around, scanning the stairs to make sure nobody was out and about, and when he felt secure enough he carefully made his way up them like a ghost.

He once again scanned the area around him as he opened the door that lead into the room he -unfortunately- shared with his rival.

Naruto smirked as he thought of how easy it would be to pull a prank on the ebony haired boy, but refrained knowing he was on a personal mission.

The blond quickly gathered his basic supplies and stuffed it into his backpack, staying quiet as to not wake Sasuke. His luck, though, ran out as one of his kunai that he was packing into his bag suddenly slipped out and made a clanking sound capable of waking any mediocre shinobi with half a brain. To him, it was an embarrassment as both a shinobi and a prankster for him to be so careless. Then again, he wasn't using common sense either when he let a couple stray foul words escape afterwards either.

-0-

The Uchiha jolted awake as he heard a loose kunai to fall to the ground, but refrained from doing anything as he heard the silent cursing of his teammate. He opened one eye to see that the blond was packing things into his backpack. Sasuke kept his attention on the blond as he watched him walk over to the doorway and then began to scan the room once more.

He was caught completely off guard as he saw that Naruto's eyes were crimson instead of crystal-blue -Naruto was too far away for Sasuke to see his copied _Sharingan_. Before Sasuke could ask what was going on, Naruto quickly ran down the hallway without making a noise.

Sasuke quickly hopped out of bed as he heard the front door silently close and ran to the window in time to see the blond maelstrom making his way into the forest, his orange coat undone and flapping behind him as he picked up speed.

_What the hell are you doing, Dobe?_ Sasuke pondered.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes as he ran to grab his own supplies and follow his teammate, but was quickly stopped as his side began to ache, reminding him that he had to rest. He growled as he begrudgingly accepted his fate for the night, but he was going to make sure he bullied the answer out of the blond when he got back.

-0-

Naruto leapt onto a rooftop in the center of the village and stopped to think about what possible time it was. If he had to guess, it was around eleven o'clock.

He would admit that finding the hideout would be easier in the daylight, but he wanted to do this now so that no one would follow him.

His _Sharingan_ scanned the sleeping village, looking for a high point that he could take advantage of. To his luck, there was a water tower at the corner of town. He leapt from the rooftops to the tower and applied chakra to his feet to walk up one of the beams until he reached the top, once more scanning the area around him with his crimson eyes.

"If I was a ninja and needed a place to hide out in, it would be…" he pointed his finger slowly around the area, trying to figure out where a convicted shinobi would find shelter. His finger stopped on a particularly dense thicket of trees just a mile outside of the village. "… Right over there."

He leapt from his perch on the tower and continued his odyssey towards the hideout.

-0-

Another hour later, Naruto was about a mile outside the village and the air was heavy with mist, making his _Sharingan_ near useless. The fact that it was night didn't help either.

With a growl of frustration, he ran to the top of the nearest tree to look at the moon and contorted his face in annoyance as he realized that he was going in circles. He was getting nowhere and fast.

A grimace marred his whiskered face as he leapt back to the forest floor and scanned the area around him again, his crimson eyes still having trouble making out shapes –he could now see why Kakashi-sensei had trouble fighting Zabuza; the mist just threw everything off.

Naruto growled as he began trekking along once more, but as he turned, he could feel his face collide with a wall. The sun-kissed blond rubbed his now throbbing head, but felt his eyes lighten up in victory as he saw the wall of a building. He had found the place at last. The Demon of the Hidden Mist had chosen a good place to hide. It would have been annoying to find even during the day.

The jinchuuriki circled around, trying to find an entrance and then let his foxy grin trace his face as he found the front door. Stepping back to take a better look at the place, Naruto took in what was once the former home of an infamously dangerous shinobi. The building actually looked quite intimidating from the outside.

Taking a deep breath, he gripped the door knob and opened it. With a quick flip of a switch, the place lit up. Naruto expected a lot of things when he entered the place –maybe a wall full of weapons, heads mounted as trophies from various missions, or even a torture chamber. He wasn't expecting to find such a simple place. Furniture was sparse, and the only noticeable markers of the room were a couch and a coffee table.

The blond stopped feeding his eyes chakra knowing that nobody was around to see him. The _Sharingan_ shattered and changed his irises back to broken mirrors. Then glimmering shards fell out of his eyes, leaving them crystal-blue; the pupils, though, retained their mirror-like appearance.

Naruto quickly spotted a hallway and began to carefully trudge along it, hoping that the Nuke-Nin didn't have any traps set up.

His worries were unfounded as he got to the first room. Naruto assumed was Zabuza's since it was the largest bedroom. It was bare like the living room, save for a bed and a nightstand next to it. He ignored the room and went deeper into the house before he finally got to the room he had christened to be Haku's.

Like the rest of the house, it was simple and only had the bare essentials, but the only thing that stood out was a mirror above the chest of drawers with a vase full of white flowers that he couldn't identify. He could tell that it was the boy's room by the Hunter-Nin mask that lay next to the vase.

Being careful to not stir a speck of dust, he walked over to the drawers and quickly began to dig through the clothes. Haku wanted him to have scrolls, and now it was time to start looking for them.

He stopped as he opened the first one and began to stare at a set of water goggles that were neatly folded. Looking at them, he could see that they were used often. Probably because the _Hyouton_ user had an unusual fascination with water, but that could have been attested to the Limit he made active use of.

Naruto cocked his head and continued to stare at them for a couple minutes before his brain concocted an idea. He wanted no one to see his eyes, but that would be an issue during the daytime, but here before him might be the answer to his personal prayers.

"Sorry, Haku, but I really need them," the blond told the air, half expecting the dead boy to suddenly walk in on him.

Taking a deep breath, he strapped them on and looked at himself in the mirror. They were tinted, but were light enough for someone to make out his eyes. He had to admit that he didn't look half bad with them on. To top it off, they were much more comfortable than the oversized ones he owned back at home.

As he continued to think about wearing them, he felt he was carrying on the _Hyouton_ user's memory in way by doing it. Not just by learning his attacks and tricks.

With no one nearby to see his silvery pupils, he took off the goggles and hung them around his neck like a necklace before he continued his search for the _Ninjutsu_ scrolls.

Five messy drawers later, he had not found them. The only two places left to search were under the bed and in the closet. Looking towards the wardrobe, he could see that it was out of the question as it looked comparatively bare, leaving the bed.

He quickly sat his head next to the ground and looked under the mattress. Naruto smiled as he found a tin box. With an excited grin, he pulled it out and opened the lid to see a large scroll next to a set of smaller scrolls, all neatly stacked on top of each other. The blond felt as if he had hit pay dirt.

Naruto held a victorious smile as he pulled his backpack off his back and began to carefully put the scrolls next to his supplies, making sure none of his spare weapons harmed the valuable pieces.

Just as he threw the bag over his back to head out, his felt captivated to look at the mirror on the drawers as he saw his own reflective eyes staring back at him. It was very disconcerting to see his own reflection in his eyes. It was like he was seeing into his own soul.

He was about to tear his eyes away before his sight caught something else: the flowers' reflection. Naruto almost felt hypnotized as he stared at the reflection. After what seemed like an eternity, a smile tugged at his lips as his mind finally solved a problem he had been having since he got back from the bridge.

"Yeah, that's… that's a great name for it," he quietly told his self, his smile widening ever so much. "_Kyoukagan_."

It was almost poetic the way the name rolled off his tongue. The simple word both described the power and the beauty his eyes held, but at the same time, gave the mirrors that were his eyes meaning.

He could see Bloodline Limits, but he could never truly grasp them. He was able to copy them, but he could never be able to call them his own.

_Mirror Flower Eye… Man, Haku. Even beyond the grave you're still helping me out_, he thought with a smile.

Before he allowed himself to leave the room, he thought over everything he laid claim to. The major target of this whole expedition was to get the scroll with all the ice techniques, but along the way he had gotten a hold of a set of water goggles capable of hiding his eyes. He also found a good name for his Doujutsu, a name he thought for sure Haku would've been proud of. It was a very productive trip altogether.

After taking one last look around him, he left the room and then made his way to the front door.

Naruto breathed in the night air before he shattered his eyes and called upon the _Sharingan_ again. To his mild surprise, the shards that fell out of his eyes whenever he activated a Limit fell at a much slower pace rather than all at once. Seven seconds later, his crimson eyes began to spin once more.

He put this information into the back of his mind, knowing that it was slower to change to a Limit than he was used to.

Leaping to the treetops, he quickly jumped from tree to tree, able to move faster because of the lack of the mist that plagued him on the way here.

-0-

The blond finally arrived back at Tazuna's as the sun began to stain the skies with a palette of colors. From the outside, everyone still looked to be sleeping, but he couldn't predict his teammates. It wasn't uncommon shinobi to get up early for training or other things.

Before anyone could wake up and discover that the blond was away for the night, he quickly slid on his new goggles, and with chakra he quickly walked up the wall holding the window leading to his room. Carefully sliding the window open, Naruto made sure not to not wake up his prick-for-a-teammate from his beauty sleep.

Naruto sat his loaded bag down next to his futon and quickly pulled off his jacket, leaving him in a black shirt and orange pants. Before he allowed himself to lie down and get what little sleep he could, he pulled the goggles off and hung them around his neck. Finally, he allowed his head to hit the pillow and not even two minutes later he was snoring.

-0-

Sakura walked down the hall to fetch her teammates for breakfast. It was a quarter after nine, and Tsunami was kind enough to make a large meal in thanks defending her father.

"Breakfast is ready, guys!" she said with a cheery voice as she opened the door.

Sasuke slowly got up, popping his back and working out the kinks in his neck from the battle yesterday. He turned to Naruto's bed expecting to see his teammate missing, but was mildly surprised to see a tuff of blond hair sticking out from under the blankets.

Sakura hadn't reacted well to the whiskered boy ignoring her. "NARUTO, GET THE HELL OUT OF BED!"

They both heard him just snore in retaliation and then muttered under his breath, "Five more minutes…"

In truth, he was wide awake, his sensitive hearing having woken him the moment she opened the door, but he couldn't afford for them both to see his _Kyoukagan_. Until they both left, there was no way in Hell he was getting out of the bed.

His pink haired teammate wasn't about to make things easy, though. "If you don't get out of bed I'M GOING TO…"

"Sakura-chan, calm down. Go ahead and start eating without me… Just give me couple minutes to get half way dressed at least," he sleepily muttered from under his blankets.

Both of the other occupants in the room raised an eyebrow at the weird behavior Naruto was exhibiting. Usually, he was the first one downstairs for a meal, but now he was asking them to start without him? For a second, they wondered if he was their teammate.

The green-eyed girl looked towards Sasuke, who had raised an eyebrow at the blond, with a questioning glance, but received nothing but a shrug from the ebony-haired boy. Deciding to ignore his teammate, Sasuke slowly willed his sore legs to get him downstairs where the food was waiting.

As soon as the door was shut, marking the absence of his team, Naruto threw the blankets off his head and sighed in relief. Like Sasuke, he got up to eat breakfast, but made sure to pull his goggles over his eyes as he left the bedroom. He was still wearing his black shirt and orange pants, but decided to leave the rest of his clothes, including his prized headband, next to his stuff.

-0-

Everyone looked up from their food as Naruto got downstairs, just not dressed in his usual attire, leaving him in his black shirt and orange pants, and instead of his headband, he was wearing water goggles. Without his headband, his hair was even wilder. It was the goggles, though, that caught everybody's attention.

When he took his seat on the table, Sakura was the first to voice her curiosity. "Hey, Naruto, where'd you get those goggles?"

The sun-kissed genin looked from his food hearing his name spoken and found everybody, including Tazuna and Inari, curious as to how he procured his new eye wear. Excuses were now buzzing through his head like flies on a dead carcass, trying to pick out the best one. That was the one thing he forgot to do last night was to come up with an excuse!

It only got worse the moment Sasuke spoke. "I have a better question. Where were you last night?"

That question caused Kakashi to look up from his infamous orange book with a raised eyebrow. So there was more to Naruto staying up last night…

Finally, an answer seemed to stick. "I was training last night," Naruto explained with a shrug. "I couldn't sleep, so I went out and got some work done. As for the goggles, I found them fair and square."

He didn't quite know how they would react if they discovered that he went to the hideout, but he was deeply hoping everyone bought it. To his relief, Kakashi shrugged and turned his to his ever-interesting novel while Inari and Tazuna went back to their food. Sakura just sighed in exasperation, thinking her teammate was being an idiot like usual.

Sasuke on the other hand was far from convinced.

"Oh really?" he said slowly with his superiority smirk plastered on his face. "Then why were you packing your backpack last night?"

Naruto coughed on his food as soon as the words left the Uchiha's mouth. That little question was enough for him to become angry enough to shatter his crystal-blue eyes and turn them into the broken mirrors, though nobody could see it because of the tinted eye wear. But the jounin of the group could feel the chakra spike in the air, sensing it as if someone had activated a jutsu.

For a second, the Uzumaki wondered if it was possible to shove an icicle up his teammate's ass with _Hyouton_. That is… when he learned how to use it of course. But then again, he might have trouble getting it up there past the stick.

It was also to his dismay that everyone's attention turned onto him again, but this time Kakashi fully put his book down and began to stare hard at his blond student. Naruto might be able to fool Sakura and Sasuke, but it was damn difficult to get the upper hand with a Jounin trained to pick apart lies. This only confirmed the hyperactive knucklehead was hiding something, and the chakra spike only made Kakashi ask more questions.

Naruto snorted as he retaliated with another excuse. "Okay, I'll admit it! I needed my bag because of all my extra weapons. Satisfied Teme, or do you also have to tell you…?"

"Naruto, relax," ordered Kakashi, his lazy look returning to his eye. "You went and did some training last night. I don't have a problem with it, and neither should you two."

He directed the last part towards the other two members of Team Seven, causing them both to get back to eating their breakfast. Though, Sasuke went back to his business with a scowl.

"Now," continued Kakashi, "I think we all should take a day to relax. That means you too, Naruto."

It was Naruto's turn to scowl at the masked man. On a brighter note, he had a small assortment of scrolls that he could look over if he wasn't going to be able to train.

"All right, fine," conceded Naruto. "But there is no way in hell that I'm going to stay in this house all day."

"So be it," said Kakashi. _Good, _thought the copy-cat._ If he's hiding something, then he'll be more willing to talk about it if he's by himself. I just hope that it doesn't have anything to do with the Kyuubi._

The blond of the group quickly wolfed down his food and made a run towards the bedroom to get fully dressed.

"Is it just me or has Naruto been acting weird since we left the bridge?" whispered Sakura to Sasuke. "I mean, he keeps trying to avoid us. Not to mention he was the last one to breakfast –that never happens."

Sasuke, for once in his life, couldn't help but agree with her. Naruto had been avoiding them like the plague since the battle with the Nuke-Nin. Top that with his weird behavior last night, his brain had calculated one logical explanation: Naruto was hiding something.

"You know," he whispered back, "I think he's not telling us something."

Sakura played with the thought for a moment before everything began to add up. "Wait a minute! You're right!"

Now that he had come to that conclusion, he wanted to find out what it was that the blond would want to hide and not show the whole world. Sasuke could tell that it was something big or otherwise Sakura would at least know. The day the Dobe would tell him a secret, though, was the day Hell would freeze over.

He shuttered as he realized that he needed help, someone that Naruto would be willing to talk to.

"Sakura," he said, turning to the girl and snagging her attention, "There is no way in Hell that he'd tell me about whatever he's hiding. I'm curious, and I imagine that you are just as curious."

The cherry blossom rapidly bobbed her head up and down, listening to her crush as if it was a life-or-death situation.

He gulped as he gave the proposition. "We're going to have to work together if we want to find out."

Sakura's mind only registered two words: work together. Sasuke had just asked her for help! Dreams really do come true!

The Uchiha on the other hand, was slowly backing away. Sakura's eyes had hearts in them and she was now staring off into space.

She quickly got her mind out of the gutter as the two members of Team Seven watched their blond teammate run past them with his backpack in hand. They all turned their heads to the window in time to see the living maelstrom make his way into the forest.

"Okay, I'll do it!" Sakura agreed with excitement.

For a second, Sasuke thought he made the worst choice of his life.

Unbeknownst to the two, two other people had listened in on the conversation. The first was Kakashi who was thinking he needed get to Naruto before they did. Inari was the other; the little boy, on the other hand, thought he could help his surrogate big brother defend whatever secret he was hiding.

Everyone turned to Kakashi as the man stood up from table while putting away his book.

"Please excuse me," he said. "I forgot to ask Naruto about something." _I better find and ask him about whatever he's hiding before the other two do._

The wiry man walked out of the front door, giving the two rookies a chance to plot ways to get their hyperactive, knuckleheaded teammate to talk.

And Inari listened, planning his counter pranks that were sure to throw them off.

-0-

Naruto finally found a good clearing hidden well enough that it would take his teammates a good effort to find the place.

With an excited grin, he sat his self on a large boulder that was jutting out of the ground and pulled off his backpack to grab one of the scrolls.

His hand rummaged through the bag before he pulled out the first one he touched. Unrolling it, it was a Medic-Nin scroll with various pressure points used for acupuncture. At the moment, he had neither the patience nor precision to practice something like that. He also needed senbon, a commodity he didn't quite have at that moment.

Putting it aside, he grabbed another scroll, but this one was much thicker. He smiled as he unrolled it to see a Taijutsu scroll. The only thing that put a damper on his excitement was the fact it was a Medic-Nin based fighting style. But he quickly felt his excitement return in full as he saw that it was changed to make it a unique form of fighting. Though it was precision oriented.

Like the other scroll, he put it to the side knowing that he would wait to learn it. The next scroll he found put a grin on his face that threatened to split his head in half. It was a water ninjutsu called _Water Release: Water Guillotine Technique._ If it was possible, his grin widened as he read a note on the scroll that said it was easily a B-ranked technique. Unfortunately, it was precision oriented as well which knocked it off of his list of things to practice for the day.

He once more dug into the backpack like a child digging for the freshest cookies at the bottom of the jar, and pulled out another scroll, this one larger than the one that containing the _Water Release: Water Guillotine Technique._ Skimming over what it was, it was a scroll that contained Haku's notes on _Hyouton_, along with the chakra theories behind it and how to properly combine the chakras. That was going to be something he needed.

If the scroll containing the ninjutsu on it had Naruto begging to learn it, the next one he pulled out of the bag had him drooling in anticipation. The attack was incomplete, only having been completed three-quarters of the way, but it had to be the most powerful water jutsu that Naruto would lay eyes on. It was easily S-classed. The chakra it required was huge, the control it required was huge, but who says that the blond wasn't up for a challenge. Or a leg up on his rival.

Naruto then realized something: Haku hadn't completed the attack before he died. He now felt compelled to finish the attack where the dark-haired boy failed.

Just as he was about to pull out the _Hyouton _scroll to finally give it a quick look over, a voice rung through the clearing: "I didn't know you read so much."

Naruto looked like a kid that got caught with his hand in the cookie jar, both figuratively and literally since his hand was in the bag.

Looking up, he caught sight of Kakashi lazily reclining on a branch above him with one of his legs dangling off the side of the branch. Surprisingly, the man didn't have his nose in his book. In place of his book was a look of curiosity and intrigue.

"They were presents from a friend," Naruto retorted while holding a look of suspicion.

"Really?" asked Kakashi, the info spiking his interest. "Were those from Iruka? Or someone else?"

Naruto quickly answered with a lie: "They were from Iruka-sensei."

"Well, I'm just glad that you're doing as told and actually trying to relax."

"There's not much to do around here other than training though," the maelstrom muttered.

"Yes, I would agree, but if you don't give your body a break you can burn yourself out." Kakashi paused for a second before he asked another question. "So what's with the goggles?"

Naruto shrugged, sticking to the lie he had told everyone at the breakfast table. "I found them and I thought they looked cool."

The older ninja just blinked for a second, feeling like he had just experienced a serious déjà vu.

"Funny. My old teammate also wore goggles," he said, recalling all his distant memories of Obito.

"Really?" asked Naruto, his curiosity starting to come out.

"Oh yeah," Kakashi smiled under his mask, knowing that he broke down some barriers and was a step closer to finding out what his student was hiding. "As a matter of fact, you two act a lot alike. The only difference was that he was late to everything by at least two hours. He was my best friend; sort of like you and Sasuke, except I acted like Sasuke."

"You acted like Sasuke?" Naruto questioned, thoroughly surprised that their sensei had acted like his prick of a teammate once-upon-a-time.

"Yes. I was by the book all the time, and I often thought the mission was more important than my teammates. I regret acting like that every day of my life, though."

"What made you change?"

Naruto started to regret asking the question as he watched his sensei's single eye suddenly show sorrow.

Before he could apologize, the silver haired man answered with a hint of emotion in his voice. "Obito passed away. You could say that I act the way I do to keep his memory living on."

Naruto's visage quickly went south as he started to remember his battle with Haku. He never knew him and his sensei were so alike in that aspect. They both were carrying on the memories of people that had taught them powerful lessons. It was the only way he could stay close to the person he could have called 'friend'.

"You know Naruto, if there's something that's bothering you, you can tell me. I really want you to be able to trust me," said Kakashi, hoping to establish that bond with his student.

Even though he hadn't been showing it lately, he really did care for him. The blond was so much like Obito that it was almost unreal (and now that he thought about it, he also looked a lot like his old sensei). He didn't want to play favorites like some other teachers did.

Inside his mind, Naruto was having an inner struggle whether or not to trust Kakashi. He wanted so much to talk about his feelings, the weight of knowing that he had lost someone that was like a friend to him, but having no one to talk to about it. Then there was also his Bloodline Limit. Half of him wanted so much to brag to everyone about it, but it was possibly dangerous since he had a rough idea of what it was capable of.

Another thing that gave the scarecrow extra points in Naruto's mind was that the man was willing to talk about his past to him when his teammates weren't around. He wanted so much to have someone other than Iruka that he could lean on, but could he trust him?

"You… You wouldn't tell anybody, right?" he finally asked, taking a gamble with the masked man.

"Of course. I promise that I won't tell anybody, but if it's dangerous, I may have trouble trying to keep it," Kakashi answered, finally glad that he could establish a teacher/student relationship.

Naruto nodded in understanding before he took a deep breath and allowed his mask to slip a bit, now donning a heavier face that told of hard times.

"Before the battle… I… I met Haku," he tried his best to not allow tears to stain his eyes, but he knew it wasn't going to be of any use.

Naruto pulled off his goggles knowing that he wasn't going to help what tears slid past his eyelids.

Kakashi jumped down from his perch and took a seat next to Naruto, waiting for him to continue his tale.

"We…We could have been friends… We had so much in common."

Finally, the blond could feel the sensation of frigid metal running down his face once more.

Kakashi could feel for Naruto and felt some of his old memories of people he knew and lost come to the front of his mind.

As he was thinking of his old comrades, his single eye widened a bit as he caught sight of a tear of liquid silver drip from Naruto's face onto his jacket, staining it metallic. Finally, his student opened his eyes to reveal his silvery pupils, catching the scarecrow completely off guard. He had no clue that the blond had developed a Doujutsu!

"I… I just wish that things could be different… then maybe he could be alive and… I wouldn't be alone again." Another silvery tear dripped onto his jacket as Naruto finally let out some of his emotions that he had been keeping bottled up for the past couple days.

As much as it was eating Kakashi to find out about the boy's unique eyes, right now wasn't the best time. At the moment, his student needed comforting; having lost someone that he had considered a comrade and friend. Something that he himself could attest to.

"Naruto," he tried to comfort. "Listen to me; there are still people out there that care for you. You got Iruka, you got the Sandaime, and you got me… or at least I'm hoping you allow me in. I know it's rough to lose someone. Trust me, I know that feeling more than you think, but you can't dwell on it. It will just eat away at you; you need to move forward and try to live for the future."

Naruto sat there for a minute trying to digest what the copy-cat had told him. It was true, he still had Iruka and Jiji; and now he felt as if he could add the silver-haired man to the list. But it was hard to lose someone you had even a small attachment to.

Kakashi sat next to him, waiting for his student to collect his thoughts. Death was never an easy thing to deal with, especially when it was someone you knew. Zabuza's student and Naruto obviously had a bond, but both had to act as shinobi at that moment on the bridge: one of them had to die either way. Such was the way of the ninja.

"Why does everyone have to die?" asked Naruto as another silvery tear ran down his face.

The scarecrow just shrugged as he answered, "Death is just more universal than life; not everyone lives, but everyone has to eventually die. It's another lesson that people have to understand."

The one-eyed jounin thought it was funny how he had switched places with his sensei. He was consoling Naruto like Minato had done to him countless times when he had a down day or just needed some advice. Kakashi felt a sad smile tugging at his lips at how the roles of a person could quickly switch.

Maybe he should try to talk to his student like his old sensei use to do to him when things were particularly hard.

Naruto looked up with his Kyoukagan eyes as he felt his sensei put a hand on his shoulder, beckoning him to make eye contact.

"All of us walk down a path where each of us will meet death at the end of it. Sometimes it's little more abrupt than we would like, but it's always the same. We meet the same end. As a shinobi, it can be cut extremely short, but that's why we should live without regret. Haku did. He was fighting for something he truly believed in, and we should respect that."

Naruto let a sad smile trace his lips as he listened. Kakashi was right; death was just another part of life that everyone would have to deal with eventually.

"Thanks sensei… I think I understand."

The said man did his signature eye smile. "No problem. Now, about your eyes…" Naruto felt like shrinking as he looked at Kakashi's eye. "We'll worry about them later. I think its something that we're going to have to talk about with the Sandaime when we get back home. Got that?"

Naruto nodded his head in affirmation, "Yes, sensei."

"Good. I wouldn't mind talking about it right now, but if you developed a new Bloodline Limit, there's no telling who might be listening in on us." The scarecrow's thoughts drifted to his other two students who were probably planning how they were going to uncover the truths. "So, for the moment, it will be our little secret."

The blond nodded his head once more. It really did feel a lot easier to hold a secret when someone else was sharing it.

The living maelstrom watched as Kakashi slowly stood up and worked out the kinks in his back.

"For the moment, I think I'm going to hit the rooftop and read my favorite book. So, by all means, keep on reading those scrolls. I'll find out how you got them when we get back to Konoha."

With a slow stride, the copy-cat walked out of the clearing to think about things. He could understand Naruto's emotional pain; it was something he was going to experience eventually. But what he really needed to think about was the Doujutsu Naruto somehow developed. A chapter of Make-Out Paradise was sure to help clear the mind.

-0-

At Tazuna's house, Inari was carefully listening to _every_ detail of the plans Sasuke and Sakura were exchanging as they whispered to each other from across the table. And he had a counter plan to every single last one.

Tomorrow wasn't going to be a good day for the Haruno or the Uchiha.

Kill Joy no Jutsu (A.K.A. Author's Note): Onto business! Well for starters, I'm not going to make Kakashi asinine in this story like so many authors like to do. Okay, so he played favorites a bit in the anime and manga, but I fully believe that it wasn't like that. On top of this, the copy-cat is a really diverse character that I find entertaining to work with.

The next chapter will also contain some humor with Sakura's and Sasuke's failed attempts at trying to uncover what our favorite blond is hiding. Inari is seriously going to give them hell.

I changed the name of Naruto's Bloodline Limit from Miragan to Kyoukagan mainly because it sounded better and it was a more literal translation. In general, Kyoukagan appeals more to my aesthetic than the former. Thank you whoever sent me that, it sounds way better.

I normally post tidbits of information about original Limits and stuff, but the Kyoukagan will be explained as the story progresses. Also, I hinted at a possible weakness, try to find out what it is.

**Kyoukagan- Mirror Flower Eye**


	3. Sugar and Ice

**Chapter 3- Sugar and Ice**

Sakura walked down the hall towards the boys' bedroom to get her teammates up for breakfast, all the while going over the plans the she and Sasuke had concocted to get the blond to reveal his dark secrets.

They were geniuses! That's all there was to it. Their teammate was going to spill his whole life story by the time they were done with him!

Opening the door, she made her announcements: "Breakfast, guys. And Naruto, you had better get up now before I beat your ass! It's rude to be late."

The said blond yawned loudly as he pulled the blankets off his head to reveal he had slept with his goggles on. Sasuke got up as well and raised an eyebrow at the weird gesture of their teammate wearing his new found fashion sense with him to bed.

"You wore those things to bed?" the Uchiha found himself questioning.

Naruto nodded his head in a yes while yawning again and working the kinks out of his back. Without saying so much as a good morning, the hyperactive member of Team Seven left his bewildered teammates behind in favor of being the first one down to breakfast.

The moment the pink-haired girl and the ebony-haired boy got downstairs, they could hear Naruto wolfing down his food at speeds that were inhumanly possible.

Kakashi saved them the trouble of berating their teammate, all the while flipping a page in his book. "Naruto, I may not be a specialist in manners, but I do know that you're eating _way_ too fast."

"Sorry sensei, but… I want to get done so I can train since… I couldn't yesterday!" he answered excitedly in between bites.

There was a reason he was so excited to train today. Naruto wanted to practice his _Hyouton_, but hadn't been able to due to his teacher's strict orders to relax. And not to mention the fact he still had to look over the scroll of _Hyouton_ jujutsu, having spent the remainder of the day yesterday studying the theories and physics behind the ice abilities.

His eating pace was much more subdued by the time the remaining members of Team Seven made it to the table.

As Sasuke sat down, he motioned for the start of their plans with his eyes. His partner in crime nodded her head as she turned towards the blond demon container to begin a basic interrogation –it was straightforward and a good starting point, but if push came to shove, they had better ideas at their disposal for later use.

Inari watched the duo with a careful eye, keeping track of every single last one of their movements. It was attempt number one and it was time to commence the counterattack!

Just as Sakura opened her mouth to ask a question, she felt something wet collide with her face. Sasuke looked to his partner to see why she was stalling only to feel his eyebrows go past his hairline as he saw morning's breakfast decorating the side of her face.

Her eyes grew to the size of saucers, realization of what had happened hitting her like an Akimichi trying to get to an all-you-can-eat buffet. Naruto didn't make things any better by falling out of his seat laughing.

The Haruno's neck muscles could be heard as she slowly turned her head to the culprit, wearing a look of pure hatred. Everyone soon joined to see Inari trying his absolute best to look as innocent as possible. Sadly, he could tell that he wasn't getting very far and pointed his finger towards his grandfather who was blissfully reading the morning paper.

Kakashi made a midair snatch, grabbing Sakura's ankle and abruptly ending her jump across the table to choke the young boy, all the while not looking up from his book.

Naturally, the cherry blossom struggled against the older man's grip as she tried to crawl across the table to continue her vengeance while Inari retreated under the table to avoid getting murdered.

"Nice one, Inari!" shouted Naruto as he laughed.

It was enough for the enraged girl to turn her attention to him with a screech: "DON'T ENCOURAGE HIM!"

Her teammate should have stopped there, but it was one of those times that Naruto felt his shut-up filter suddenly stop. "I'm just saying, it was good prank, and I'm just jealous I didn't think of it first."

It was faster than the human eye could track. Sakura abandoned her original target and pounced on the blond, bringing him down to the ground while pounding him in any humanly possible way. His screams of agony could now be heard ringing through the house.

Kakashi just sighed at their antics while Sasuke could feel himself wincing with every hit the Dobe took, almost feeling bad for the unsuspecting idiot –_almost_ being the key word. If only Naruto had used his common sense…

Inari, on the other hand, pumped his arm in victory under the table. The first of his planned sabotages had been successful.

* * *

Naruto walked into the forest around the house with his backpack in tow, intent on finding a place to train away from prying eyes. Soon, he came upon a clearing with a small pool of water he could use for his _Hyouton_. An excellent spot for practicing water manipulation without any nosy teammates nearby to prod into his business.

Taking off his bag, he opened it up to pull out the scroll with Haku's notes on _Hyouton,_ detailing its mechanics and workings. With one last quick scan over it, he gave himself the okay to begin.

In the bushes behind the unsuspecting blond were the other members of Team Seven, planning their next move since plan A didn't go according to their hopes. It was time for plan B and Sasuke was now giving his pep talk to the pink haired girl.

"Whatever you do," ordered the Uchiha, "don't lose your temper. If that happens, he might become too afraid. Don't blow it."

Sakura bobbed her head up and down as she burned their basic plan into her brain. It was simple: try to flirt with him a bit, be a little nice, make him drop his guard, and then have him start to spill the beans. Sweet and simple and down to the point –it should work.

With the final prompt from the Uchiha, she quietly got out the bush and slowly made her way to Naruto, who was oblivious to her presence. She tried to put on a friendly smile, but it just seemed a little fake to her, making her a little worried that the sun-kissed blond wasn't going to buy it.

Her curiosity ebbed away at her nervousness the closer she got. To her mild surprise, Naruto was reading a scroll, something that she never known him to do. He just always seemed too hyper to want to read a book.

Against her better judgment, she inched a little closer to see if she could make out anything on the parchment, earning Sasuke's nervous/annoyed looks directed at her. She could only make out a couple words from the distance she was, words like 'manipulation' and 'ice'. And one word she couldn't identify nor had she heard of altogether: _Hyouton_.

The blond's ears twitched when she got close enough, signifying he sensed her. Much to her slight panic, Naruto rolled up his scroll as fast as possible and then turned to her with one of his foxy grins painted on his face, causing her squeak in mild shock.

"Hey Sakura-chan! What're you doing here?" he asked.

For a second, words escaped her mouth, but she quickly recovered and tried to save what little dignity she had left.

"Um, I was just a little worried," Sakura began while trying to wear something akin to a puppy-dog pout, "You've been acting weird lately and I just want to make sure that everything is okay."

To sweeten things up, she began to slowly decrease the proximity between the two, catching Naruto off guard. Sasuke was in the bushes wearing his patented Uchiha smirk knowing Naruto was going to cave at any second.

For Naruto, this was a little unexpected. One: Sakura was being nice and rapidly closing the distance between them; and as of right now, he felt his twelve-inches of comfortable clearance being rapidly used up. Two: she was starting to look cute for him, something that he only imagined he would get in his dreams. Right now, two and two weren't adding together properly.

"I mean, I just hoping that there's nothing wrong. You can always talk to me about anything," she sweetened her voice even more, trying to sugarcoat it.

Inari on the other hand, abandoned his original plan of just jumping in and distracting Naruto when he saw how they were trying to get the blond to talk. Oh no. He had a better one, one that was sure to make the Uchiha feel like he was on fire… literally.

The little boy snuck up from behind the unsuspecting Sasuke while holding a box of matches he procured from the kitchen. With an evil smile, he lit one as quietly as possible, and, while his target was distracted, he waved the lit match under the dark haired boy's bottom, trying to give a new meaning to the words 'liar liar, pants on fire'.

Naruto's look of nervousness quickly changed into something that made him look as if something awful had passed under his nose.

Sakura was about to panic at the thought of failing until Naruto made his disgust known, "Is it just me or is something burning?"

The bubble-gum-haired kunoichi gave him an odd look, but it quickly changed as she caught a whiff of the smell in the air. "Actually, I think there is something burning."

In the bushes, Sasuke was sweating and he couldn't help but wonder why his butt felt like it was on fire. Suddenly, he felt his pants burst into flames, causing him to panic and make a dash towards the pool of nearby water, completely abandoning the plan to get Naruto talking in favor of not suffering third degree burns.

The other two members of Team Seven watched as the Uchiha ran past them in a blue blur with black smoke trailing behind him –it would also probably be the first and only time Naruto would hear him scream like a girl. The sizzling sound of a fire being put out could be heard for a couple seconds and then followed by a deep sigh of relief.

As soon as the smoke cleared, Naruto keeled over with uncontrollable laughter. It was worth more than a million bowls of ramen to see Sasuke running around with ass on fire! And what were the odds that he would see it today out of the days in his life?!

Sakura, though, had slapped her hand over her eyes in embarrassment. That had just ruined plan B.

It was back to the drawing board.

* * *

Kakashi looked up from his porn as his three students walked in for lunch. Sakura was once again holding up Sasuke who looked as if he was having trouble standing in the first place.

Naruto on the other hand…

"I still can't believe that your ass caught on fire! What the hell were you doing?! Did you fart out a fireball, or something?!" the blond said in between his laughter while gripping his backpack.

Sasuke scowled murderously at his teammate, but kept his mouth shut. He still didn't have a clue as to how his posterior had experienced spontaneous combustion anyways.

"I'm going to grab some new clothes," announced the Uchiha, walking by himself towards his room with pain.

The scarecrow's eyebrows rose past his hairline as he saw Sasuke's bottom charred black from the remains of a fire. From the looks of it, the burn wasn't very dangerous, being at least akin to particularly nasty sunburn. Sasuke wasn't going to have an easy time, though, if he chose to sit down.

"Well that was funny," said the grinning blond, "but I'm going to go and train some more. I don't think I'll be back till dinner."

Kakashi nodded in his head in approval before he added in his two cents: "That's fine, but don't overdo it. I plan on us having a team practice after dinner."

"Got it!" Naruto shouted with a mock salute.

With those parting words, the hyperactive knucklehead of Team Seven dashed towards the forest with his backpack swaying as he ran.

Sakura sighed as she walked upstairs, looking for her partner in crime to relay what she had seen from Naruto's scroll. Her teammate's absence gave them time to work on a plan C since their last one didn't quite go so well.

She knocked on his door and got the permission to enter. The pink haired girl almost laughed as she saw a fully dressed Sasuke struggling to sit on his bed as softly as possible. With one final pain filled look, he finally accomplished the task of trying to relax on his bed.

"Well, that didn't exactly go according to plan," he started.

"No, it didn't, but how the heck did your pants catch on fire exactly?" Sakura asked.

Sasuke just shrugged his shoulders, still not quite able to pin the identity of the culprit. It couldn't have been Naruto; he was watching him the whole time. If it was him, then he had to admit that the blond truly had the greatest prank skills on the planet.

But Hell would freeze over before he said that out loud.

"Anyways, I did catch a little bit of what Naruto was reading," the cherry blossom mentioned.

This had immediately caught the Uchiha's attention. Naruto wasn't one to read, or to pick up a book at all, but for the blond to sit down and actually read something was like Sasuke dancing in a pink tutu. Those kinds of things just don't happen, but the impossible did occur and Naruto remained calm enough to actually skim over a scroll.

"What did it say?" asked the ebony haired boy, not bothering to keep the curiosity out of his voice.

"I could only catch a couple words. I think they were 'manipulation' and 'ice'. There was this one word though…" she thought as she put her finger up to her chin.

"Well?" he asked impatiently.

"_Hyouton_… Yeah, that's the word!" she announced.

_Ice Release,_ thought the Uchiha skeptically. That had to be a joke. No shinobi could just create ice; it was impossible! A ninja could only work with the five basic elements.

Then he remembered his battle with Haku. His mind recalled how the faux Hunter-Nin created the ice senbon and the ice mirrors. He also remembered the brief mention of the word _Hyouton_ during the intense battle, but it wasn't explained any further.

He honestly thought those were some of the coolest jutsu he ever saw, but he was inwardly upset that his _Sharingan_ wasn't active at the time to allow him to copy those jutsu. Both of the techniques he had witnessed were astounding and the ice mirror jutsu easily had S-class capabilities.

But were there any secrets behind the attacks? Was there a deeper reason why these ice jutsu weren't known anywhere else in the world? Better yet, and this was if his hypothesis proved true of the blond somehow getting them, how did Naruto procure the scrolls that contained them?

"Sasuke-kun?" asked Sakura, trying to snap him out of his thoughts.

He shook his head for a second to try and get back to the real world. This secret dug a little deeper than they had originally thought; that much was confirmed by Sakura.

"Sorry, I was just thinking about something," Sasuke said. "Hey, do you think that there's something a little deeper going on than we think?"

Sakura took a seat on the floor so that she could think, looking underneath the underneath. At first glance, nothing seemed out of the ordinary other than Naruto taking time to read something, the weird goggles, and, lastly, his self isolation. So far, Kakashi was the only one who was able to talk to Naruto without any problems.

But as a girl, she understood secrets. The key behind them was that they always centered on something, something that a person didn't want anybody else to know about. Finding what that center point was always led the way to unlock the mystery; it was like trying to solve a puzzle. A major problem was that some people took it to an extreme to hide things, making it really difficult to get even a small hint.

"Do you know where some paper is?" she asked. "It'll be easier for us to try and add things up if we write down what we know."

Sasuke nodded and carefully moved to his backpack, making sure to not harm his still sore butt. He didn't find any paper, but he tossed her a blank scroll with pen instead.

Before she wrote down anything, she tried to recall all the abnormalities that Naruto was displaying. First was the goggles, he had not taken them off since the day after the battle nor did he explain where he got them. Second was his self isolation, which had started minutes after the battle. Third was his unusual behavior, like reading and taking his sweet time to get to breakfast; basically, him doing un-Naruto-ish things.

There was one other thing that her mind had conjured, but she tried to shove the thought into the back of her mind with no avail. She didn't want to remind herself of what had happened on the bridge; it was a nightmare that she didn't want to relive. But did it have any relevance to Naruto's secrecy?

"Sasuke-kun, do you remember your fight with the Kiri-Nin?" He nodded in affirmation, allowing her to continue. "You wouldn't mind telling me about it, would you?"

He raised an eyebrow at her unique request, trying to figure what that had anything to do with them trying to find out Naruto's secret.

"What does this have to do with anything?" he finally asked.

"Trust me," Sakura assured. "I'll tell you after you tell me what had happened."

With a defeated sigh, he recalled the entire battle, giving her every little detail he could remember. He did make it a point though to make sure he didn't indulge her about him telling Naruto about his brother. The Uchiha didn't miss a beat of his recount outside that.

Sakura kept silent for a long while, trying to digest what she was hearing. Whatever had happened when the dark chakra swept through the bridge, her teammate had been out like a light during the duration of the moment.

She took a deep breath as she got ready to explain to what had happened during his unconsciousness, "Alright, this is what happened while you were out."

From there, she explained everything, how the air itself felt hollow and devoid of all life and how it felt as if one had to beg for mercy to someone that wasn't there. Sasuke's eyes remained widened throughout the explanation, still not believing what had happened.

The Uchiha heir sat their for a minute trying to add everything together while Sakura made herself busy writing down all the weird stuff that had happened, having decided that the weird feelings on the bridge could count as another piece to the puzzle that was their enigma of a teammate.

So far, their list included the weird chakra on the bridge that no one witnessed, Naruto wearing goggles, his avoidance of his team like the plague (except Kakashi), and his unusual behavior were the only clues they had to work with.

Sakura looked down at everything she had written, trying to add everything together. Sadly, this was worse than any algebra equation she had done before.

What was Naruto hiding that would have to do with the goggles and the weird chakra…? It then hit her; it was something that could come out of the left field, but it was still a very real possibility.

"Um, Sasuke-kun, this is a long shot, but I have an idea that would explain some things," she said nervously.

He looked up from his ponderings, impatiently waiting for what she had to say. "Well, what is it?"

She gulped as she readied to explain. "Is it possible that Naruto could've developed a Bloodline Limit of some kind, a Doujutsu to be precise? I mean, that would explain a lot about the goggles and the weird chakra."

Sasuke felt his eyes widen in surprise at what she suggested. It wasn't possible that the Dobe could all a suddenly develop something out of nowhere… it had to be! He wanted to be the only one on the team to have a Limit, but if Naruto had one, it gave him a leg up, something he absolutely did not want.

But as it pained him to say, it made sense. It did explain everything, but if the blond did have something, what kind of Limit was it?

"We need to get those goggles off," he decided aloud.

* * *

Naruto had returned to the clearing where Sasuke had caught his ass on fire to train.

Looking around to make sure that no one was around, he pulled off his goggles to reveal his silvery pupils. Adding chakra, he shattered his eyes, bringing the shattered mirror-like irises into play. With one last thought, he willed for his _Sharingan_ to make an appearance and with that, the shards fell out of his eyes in an instant.

Again, he recalled that at Haku and Zabuza's hideout, his crimson eyes took exactly seven seconds before they appeared, but it did it instantly once more. He shoved the thought into the back of mind with a shrug of his shoulders and summoned his clones.

Looking at them, he expected to see hundreds of Pinwheel Eyes, but instead found that none of them had the _Kyoukagan_ to begin with, not even the silvery pupils.

"Hey, why don't you guys have the _Kyoukagan_?" he asked to no one particular.

All of the blonds turned to each other with looks of surprise, before all them turned to the leader and shrugged their shoulders, all bearing faces of confusion.

"I think it's just another thing that you're going to have to ask Jiji," one of the clones suggested.

"Oh well. Come and get me!"

With a large battle cry, all one hundred of the clones charged at their master.

Naruto was having the absolute time of his life using his _Sharingan_! He experienced a weird sense of déjà vu every time he saw one of the clones try to attack him and quickly counterattacked before any of his miniature visions could come true.

Naruto could now see why Sasuke bragged so much about the _Sharingan_: IT WAS SO COOL! To be able to see things before it could happen in a split second was so awesome. He could see how an enemy ninja could fear such a Limit.

He smirked to himself while dodging a punch, knowing he had a Limit that could make people even more fearful. The _Sharingan_ could copy jutsu, but his eyes copied Limits, making him even more dangerous. He could have the _Sharingan_ _and _whatever else was out there. The possibilities were endless for him!

Finally, after four brutal minutes of taijutsu, Naruto collapsed to the ground, breathing hard. Despite the _Sharingan_ being able to read attacks, it only worked on what you could see. Thus, much to his chagrin, the army of clones got smart and began to attack his blind spots. He was going to keep that in mind whenever he fought Sasuke.

After several seconds, he could here Kakashi's voice ring through the clearing. "So that's what your Limit does?"

The scarecrow jumped from one of the trees as he helped Naruto into a sitting position while studying the _Sharingan_ that was spinning in his eyes. It looked normal, but the major difference was the mirror-like pupils.

"So, the _Sharingan_ can copy jutsu, but your eyes can evidently copy other Bloodline Limits?" Naruto slowly nodded his head, still trying to get his breathing under control. "That's absolutely astounding. There's never been a Limit heard of like this one. I can understand now why you want to keep it a secret; a lot of ninjas would be after it."

"Yeah," said the blond slowly.

"How many Limits have you copied?" the scarecrow asked.

"Two: _Sharingan_ and _Hyouton_," said Naruto with pride in his voice, finally getting his breathing under control. "Right now, I was just training my _Sharingan_ and was going to finally try out _Hyouton_ for the first time after I was done."

"Can you turn off your eyes?"

Naruto did as he was told and stopped feeding his eyes chakra, causing the crimson eyes to stop spinning and then to be replaced with shattered irises. The shards quickly fell out of his eyes, once more returning them to crystal blue.

"I see… To stop feeding your eyes chakra is to deactivate the Limit altogether. It seems that some Bloodline Limits require that they stay active in order to be used," Kakashi said more to himself than Naruto.

"Hey! Is it okay if I train with _Hyouton_ now?" the blond asked, finally hoping to try out his friend's abilities.

Kakashi got out of his thinking pose and gave him an eye smile, "Oh, sorry. Yes, by all means. Just as long as I can stay and watch."

Naruto gave the okay, allowing the older man to take his spot on one of the trees above while leaning on the trunk, looking on in curiosity.

It was really astounding that such a Limit existed… and it was also dangerous. So many countries would want to steal it just because of how amazing it was. Naruto was once again the most unpredictable ninja alive, gaining an ability that many would kill for.

The blond was about to shatter his eyes to activate his other Limit until he felt something twinge in the back of his mind, a sixth sense of someone nearby. Looking towards his sensei, he could feel a signature of some kind coming from his covered eye.

"Kakashi-sensei, this may sound a little funny… but I think I can sense your left eye."

The scarecrow just blinked in surprise. "How's that possible?"

"I don't know I could just sense it!" the blond yelled back.

Kakashi put his hand to his chin as he thought about it. Naruto just sensed his eye, but not him. It surprised him that he couldn't sense the Hatake white chakra, which was classified as a Limit. But this possibly meant that a sixth sense of some kind was…

Naruto's eyes slowly widened as he slowly began to sense Kakashi himself. The eye and the scarecrow's body had completely different feelings though.

"Naruto, can you sense me?"

The blond bobbed his head up and down as he stared at the man trying to decipher what he was feeling. He could sense a familiarity of some kind between the wiry man and him.

"That's what I thought. You're not sensing me, your sensing my Bloodline Limits."

"YOU HAVE A BLOODLINE LIMT!?"

Kakashi nodded his head. "Yes, I have two: one from my father's family and one from Obito. I'm going to jump out on a limb and say that your eyes allow you to sense other Bloodline Limits. Sort of a way that you can copy the most Limits possible."

Naruto stared at him for a bit, trying to take in the info before his mind got other ideas. "Um, would I be able to copy yours?"

The former ANBU felt his eyebrows go into his hairline as his student's words entered his ears. Did the blond just ask for _permission_ to copy his Bloodline Limit when he could just copy it without problems?

"Why are you asking? You know you don't have to," he asked with curiosity laced into his voice.

Naruto just began to rub the back of his head while smiling sheepishly. "Well, I just want to be rude like Teme and copy everything without asking first."

"That's very nice of you; of course you have my permission."

Kakashi was genuinely surprised with Naruto. He never expected him to ask for his right to copy anything. It did, for one thing, show the difference in personality Sasuke and he had. Sasuke was willing to make it a game to copy things just so he could avenge his clan; Naruto on the other wanted to earn his power.

"SWEET! That's three!" shouted Naruto while jumping up and down and then calming down while adopting a curious smile. "So, what does it do?"

"It's known as the _Byaku Chakra_. It's a unique chakra that's colored white along with a whole arsenal of abilities. Do you remember my battle with Zabuza?" Naruto bobbed his head up and down once more in excitement. "His sword should have easily destroyed my kunai, but it didn't. That's because I coated my kunai with a very thin layer of it. Let me give you a full on demonstration."

Kakashi pulled out one of his kunai and then began to channel a small bit of his unique chakra into the blade, giving it a white aura. Then the blond watched as his sensei lazily threw the kunai at a tree, sending it through the trunk and then through the rock that was behind it, finally coming to a stop on the trunk of a tree behind the boulder.

"How the…!" announced Naruto with wide eyes.

"It's simple; the kunai was sharpened to an extremely high degree. If had I thrown it any harder, it would have gone through at least five more trees before it finally stopped. _Byaku Chakra_ is much denser than normal chakra, requiring a lot less to use any jutsu. And let's be honest, for a jounin, my reserves are kind of small for where they should be, but because my chakra is denser…"

"… It requires even less chakra for even higher powered moves!" finished Naruto excitedly.

"That's right. It has other more mysterious properties that even I haven't unlocked, but I'll tell you the other abilities later. So are you going to copy the Limit or not?"

Naruto nodded, still wearing his smile, before he shattered his eyes once more and began to stare at Kakashi for a couple seconds.

It was an amazing feeling. Naruto could feel his eyes working as he stared at the man, copying the Limit and adding it to his growing arsenal. The blond let out a smile as he felt a click in the back of his mind, telling him that he had copied the Limit.

"Got it!" said the boy, giving his teacher a thumbs up.

"Excellent, I'll start training you in it later, but for now, I think you should be practicing your _Hyouton_. I'm going to go ahead and sit down and see just to see how things work."

With that, the blond closed his eyes to help him concentrate manifesting the ability. Finally he opened his eyes to allow the shards to fall to the ground, but he adopted a confused look as he felt the shards slowly drift out of his eyes, like the time when he had gone to the hideout. Seven seconds later, he had Haku's stormy eyes.

Kakashi watched everything intently. He had just found a major weakness to the _Kyoukagan_, but he needed to experiment to confirm his suspicions. That would be a later time though.

Once more, Naruto shrugged it off and walked towards the pond to practice his Limit for the first time.

Stretching his arm out, he remembered Haku's notes and began to slowly allow his chakra to saturate into the water. Finally he wielded it to move and smiled as a small tentacle of water began to coil its way into the air. Naruto then forced it to come towards him, separating the water he was controlling from the pond. He smiled as it got in between his hands, shifting and contorting like it was some form of clay.

Now came the hard part: trying to freeze it. His memory recalled from the scroll that _Hyouton_ was the mixing of wind and water chakra, but he had absolutely no idea on how to manipulate elemental chakra.

With a grimace, he just settled with himself to shove more chakra into the water, causing it to explode into his face, thoroughly soaking him.

Kakashi snickered, earning a yell from the blond: "IT'S NOT FUNNY!"

"It was from my vantage point. Anyways, if this is an elemental Bloodline Limit," explained Kakashi, "then it's just a matter of combining the two chakras."

"It's not as easy as it looks," mumbled the blond.

"You're right. It is one of the most difficult forms of training out there, but for people with elemental chakra manipulations, such as _Hyouton_ or _Mokuton_, it should come natural to you. It's just the matter of splitting the chakra and then recombining it out of the body. Try again, but this time split the chakra into two."

Naruto scowled but complied. Once more, he willed some of the water to his palms and began concentrating on splitting the chakra like his sensei told him to. When he did, he felt his eyes widen a bit; the chakras both had a very different feel to them. He could feel the water chakra inside the liquid he was contorting and the wind chakra on the outside in the air.

With a shove, he put the wind chakra into the water causing it to freeze into a perfectly round sphere. He smiled as he held it in the air, having just mastered the basics of the Limit.

"YAHOO!"

Naruto was about to leap in the air for joy, but his lack of concentration caused the ice ball to obey the laws of gravity. It fell to the ground… right on top of Naruto's foot. The blond boy let out a loud yell as he began to hop on one foot while trying to cradle the appendage.

Kakashi naturally let out some laughter as he watched his student hop on one foot while cussing the air blue with words that would have had a boat full of sailors blush in embarrassment. If only he had a camera…

The jounin cut his laughter short to see that the sun was three quarters of the way through the sky, signifying that it was dinner time.

Turning to Naruto, he told him his observations: "Naruto, I think it's time for dinner, but before we go to the house, do you mind if I test something with your eyes?"

The blond stopped dancing on one foot and looked towards his sensei. "No problem, but what do you want me to do?"

"Oh, it's simple really; just use the _Sharingan_ again."

Naruto nodded and shattered his eyes, once more turning his irises into the shattered mirrors. Like last time, he willed that his eyes change, but to Kakashi's and Naruto's surprise, the shards fell out of his eyes, glistening like a snowfall in the sunlight, not all at once like usual.

Sixteen seconds later, the _Sharingan_ was spinning in his eyes.

"What the hell…"

Naruto was cut off as Kakashi voiced his observations. "That's what I thought. It seems we have found a major weakness to the _Kyoukagan_."

"And what's that?"

"In order for you to use your various Limits, your body has to adjust to the change that each one requires. For instance, my _Sharingan_ doesn't work properly because, for one, I don't have the memory capability or the proper frontal lobes that the Uchiha have. Thus, I have to use a lot of chakra to make up for this. You on the other hand, use the Limits as if you had them your whole life, but because your body must change, it becomes more and more exhausted, thus it takes longer in between Limit changes."

"If this is true," continued the copy-cat, "when you first activate _Kyoukagan_ and change into a Limit, its instant because your body is a blank slate. After that, you get one instant change into another Limit, but even further after that, it starts with seven seconds from what I've seen and then jumps to sixteen seconds. I imagine that after that it would be somewhere past thirty seconds for a fourth change."

"This can be dangerous; keep that in mind because in the world of shinobi, a couple seconds could easily be the difference between life and death. When in battle, make sure to change as few Limits as possible. Suggestively, find at least three Limits for possible situations and stick with them, but change as little as possible."

"Okay," started Naruto, still trying to grasp what he was hearing. "That's all and good, but how do I restart the time thingy?"

"Rest, obviously," answered Kakashi with a shrug. "It's probably very hard on the body to all of a sudden change your anatomy. Now that I clarified this, we should head to dinner before everyone gets curious."

With a nod from the boy, both teacher and student began the trek back home, but the blond made sure that he grabbed his backpack before he forgot it.

* * *

"YOU TWO ARE LATE!" was the response of Sakura as the goggle wearing Naruto and the ever tardy Kakashi stepped into the house.

Naruto smirked as he sensed the ever moody presence of Sasuke sitting at the table, thanks to his newfound sixth sense. After he entered the house, he quickly went upstairs to put his backpack with the rest of his belongings before he came downstairs to join the dinner with Tazuna's family.

He came in time to hear Kakashi's lame excuse: "Sorry, we both just got lost on the road of life."

Sakura and Sasuke both rolled their eyes at their eternally late teacher and quickly got back to their half eaten dinner. Naruto quickly rejoined everyone and quickly piled on the food to his plate.

Interestingly enough, Inari kept a suspicious eye on the Haruno and Uchiha. So far, the two hadn't made any new plans he was aware of, but he wasn't about to let the two get away with anything.

For Sasuke, it was time to implement plan C, his final plan. Sakura and he hadn't discussed their third plan together, but he had been planning this one without her consort for a while. This plan was sure to succeed; he wouldn't allow it to fail, otherwise he'd be the new village idiot. After all, the third time is always a charm.

"Naruto," said blond looked up from his food to Sasuke to see that he was wearing his signature superiority smirk. "Want to make a bet?"

Did his ears pick up what he thought he heard? Sasuke was making a bet with him?! It was too good to pass up.

"I'm game. Let's hear it," spoke the smiling blond.

"Me and Sakura against you in a fight."

Sakura felt her drink go up her nose. After coughing out everything that decided to go down the wrong tube, she turned her wide-eyed attention to her teammates. What the hell was Sasuke planning now, and how did it involve her!?

"Alright," accepted Naruto with his foxy grin, but Sakura thought herself going crazy as she saw his pupils glowing past his goggles. "What's in it for me?"

"I teach you one of my own jutsu; oh, maybe the _Fire Release: Grand Fireball Technique_."

"Okay, I like what I'm hearing so far."

"But you have to take off your goggles if I win."

Naruto's smirk quickly changed into an angry scowl. If looks could kill, Sasuke would have a boiling pile of puke.

The bet was so great that Kakashi put his book down as he waited for his student's answer. This was both a miracle vine from heaven in that it would put the _Kyoukagan_ in a full on test, but it was also a weed from hell because if Naruto lost, shit would hit the fan.

Sakura felt her eyes widen as she caught on to Sasuke's third plan of action. He was willing to gamble and attack Naruto's pride to get him to reveal something. It was genius, but she doubted that her blond teammate would even come close to winning due Sasuke's _Sharingan_.

But to both Sakura and Sasuke, this proved that Naruto was hiding something under those goggles. Did Naruto really develop a Bloodline Limit of some kind during the battle with Haku?

Naruto was also weighing the odds. He had three Limits at his disposal, two of which he had yet to fully master. And it was two against one, but he accounted for Sakura's lack of any truly nasty jutsu. The odds at the moment were being balanced on a scale.

The fire jutsu, even though it was cool, didn't really matter to him. What really mattered was the ability to smother Sasuke's face with dirt and he wouldn't hold back just because Sakura was on his side either. All was fair in love and war.

"When and where… prick?" Naruto asked, holding a look that meant business.

Sakura felt her eyes widen as she heard Naruto take the bait. Kakashi on the other hand, just sighed. He once more found himself cursing his students' competitiveness.

Sasuke continued smirking as he felt his plan working. "Tomorrow at noon near the spot that Kakashi-sensei trained us to climb trees."

"I guess this means that I'm going to have to cancel team practice tonight," conceded Kakashi.

Naruto quickly finished his dinner in less than two bites before he ran upstairs to grab his trusty backpack once more. He needed at least one or two _Hyouton_ moves mastered before he could fight.

"Where are you going?" asked Sasuke in a mocking voice.

"To train. What else asshole?" The Uchiha scowled, but Naruto let his foxy grin loose as he poured salt on the wound. "I would set you ass on fire, but it seems someone beat me to it."

Sasuke's scowl quickly became an angry grimace as he saw the blond leave but did nothing to stop him. Payback would come when he stuck the blond into the dirt in the fight tomorrow.

"Sasuke-kun," the aforementioned boy turned towards a nervous looking Sakura. "You wouldn't mind training me a bit tonight, would you?"

The ebony haired boy nodded his head in approval. Right now, she needed to get stronger or otherwise she was just going to be a hazard on the field.

Kakashi did count the rivalry that his students had as a mix blessing as he watched the exchanges they had. It made sure that they got stronger quickly, but it sure was annoying as Hell. He just hoped that Naruto could keep up because he knew that Sakura was going to pack some firepower when Sasuke was done with her.

Inari was as pissed as a rattled hornet's nest. He knew what the Uchiha's plan was, but he couldn't interfere this time because his older brother figure had wanted it. All he could settle for was to watch and hope that Naruto won.

Kakashi sighed once more as he dismissed his self from dinner to head up to the roof for thinking. He had a lot to go over.

* * *

At the clearing that Naruto situated himself in, a grin that threatened to split his face in half was painted across the front of his head as he looked at an open scroll. It was the _Hyouton_ scroll and the first move he was looking at was awesome.

It was called _Ice Release: Frostbite,_ and it was badass.

Kill Joy no Jutsu (A.K.A. Author's Note): On to business! Kakashi's Limit… Okay, I can't remember if the white chakra thing is canon or a product of fandom, but if it isn't in the manga, oh well. It will be pretty cool to see.

Now, I hope you all liked Sakura and Sasuke's misfortune with Inari. I was laughing as I was writing the scene with our favorite emo boy. I did have a couple other plans but I thought Sakura losing all her clothes would have been a little inappropriate. Long story about that, I may post it in an omake if I ever have time because I was laughing at the thought alone.

I hope I made the Kyoukagan weakness understandable. There is one other, but it won't be seen until the Chunin Exam Arc.

Onto original Limits! Unfortunately, the Kyoukagan factoid won't be seen until much later.

Original Limits and Techniques:

Byaku Chakra (White Chakra) – Anatomy and Function- A Bloodline Limit native to Konoha that gives its user unique white chakra and coils to match. Only three generations have been recorded starting with Hatake Kakashi's grandfather and then his father, Hatake Hakumo. Due to it being a recent Limit, many of abilities of the Byaku Chakra are still unknown.

The basis of Byaku Chakra is the white chakra. This specialized chakra is almost three times more dense than regular chakra thanks to its purity. Jutsu that require higher chakra reserves become easier to use due to the density of the chakra. The chakra can also be controlled in a variety of abilities outside the body, which include using a chakra cloud to disrupt some Doujutsu and a unique form of Taijutsu created through the use of chakra displacement in conjunction with the chakra cloud.

A favorite ability of Byaku Chakra users is the ability to augment weapons in ways similar to elemental manipulation. The speed of a kunai, as well as destructive power, can be indefinitely augmented by use of the chakra; the same applies with shuriken.

A fairly recent discovery suggests that Byaku Chakra reacts to different metals in a variety of ways, but not much is known about it.


	4. The Mirror Flower and the Pinwheel

**Chapter 4- The Mirror Flower and the Pinwheel**

Naruto could be found lying on the grass in the clearing with his goggles off, staring into the sky. It was a clear night and the now waning moon was a beautiful sight along with the stars that dotted the midnight sky. The moonlight was gently glimmering off of his silvery pupils as he stared towards the heavens.

He was at peace. Right now, he could show his beautiful eyes to the world and not have a care. The blond didn't have to wear the mask he always did; here it didn't matter.

Despite this, he had a battle in a couple hours against Sakura and Sasuke in a two-on-one match and he just mastered the _Hyouton_ jutsu he wanted. They wanted to see what was under the goggles, but he just wanted the thrill of victory… and to smother Sasuke's face with it.

But right now, that didn't matter to him. He just wanted a chance to give his body a break so he'd be at full potential for the battle. Hopefully, he could change into the other Limits he gained without a hitch.

He knew he didn't want to, but, nonetheless, he slowly willed his aching body to rise and to train more. Naruto wanted to learn that _Water Release: Water Guillotine,_ but it required a good deal of practice. In the end, the ability to splice an opponent in half would be well worth the effort in the future.

* * *

Sakura looked down at her aching, tender hands as she took a break. She looked up as she felt someone pour water onto them, soothing some of the discomfort she was experiencing. Sasuke stood over her, screwing the cap back onto the bottle he poured the water from.

"You should be a little more cautious with that technique or otherwise your hands will just get worse," the ebony-haired boy warned.

He took a seat next to her, as he decided to rest after having just completed the training for _Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique._ His pink-haired teammate was also training with a new fire move he happened to know, but her reserves were so small that it was the only thing he could teach her without her suffering from chakra exhaustion.

"Do you think we're going to win?" Sakura asked out of the blue.

Sasuke turned to her bearing a calm smile. "How can we not lose? Unless Dobe throws something out there we don't know about, the battle should be pretty easy."

"Yeah, I guess, but what if we're both right and he does throw out this random Bloodline Limit?"

At that, the Uchiha shrugged, "Don't know; we'll just have to adapt when it comes, but seriously, what could it be?"

Both of them sat in silence as they thought about it. Naruto had to have a Limit, but what was it and what could it do? There were so many outcomes to the question that the two gave up thinking about it several hours earlier.

"Okay, let's get back to work, but expel the fire this time. Don't hold it or otherwise your hands will get worse," coached Sasuke as he slowly stood.

Sakura nodded and quickly joined him. Both members of Team Seven got into a basic battle stance and went back to their training. It was almost morning and they had to get ready for their battle with Naruto.

* * *

Kakashi sat on the roof of the house as he waited for morning to arrive. If any other jounin got close enough, they would've gawked in disbelief at the fact that the man didn't have his nose in his perverted book for once in his life. Honestly, there was too much to think about to try and relax.

He spent the good deal of the night thinking about the _Kyoukagan_. It was an awesome Limit that many would be _very_ hard pressed to even match. So many people would want those eyes, whether by stealing it or by arranged marriage –the latter of the two would be a product of the clans of Konoha trying to get a hold of it.

The scarecrow was pretty sure someone from the Yanamaka clan would try to have a go at it, speaking that they had a female around Naruto's age. He wasn't so sure about the Hyuga clan, but he was pretty sure the elders would make a push for it. There were others, but he doubted they would have as big of a voice.

Then there was the _Kyoukagan_ itself. The basic abilities alone were impressive, such as being able to copy other Limits and sense people with a Limit.

Of course, it also had its drawbacks. Naruto's skill with each Limit was limited and he would need to train with each one before he could fully master them. The eyes also only allowed one Limit at a time to be used, and the blond could only change Limits three times before it got dangerous due to time constraints. Also, his clones couldn't use it either, which was a serious limitation. If anything, these problems balanced out the good in the _Kyoukagan_. It may be a miracle vine at first glance, but the weaknesses also made it a weed from Hell. With practice, though, it could be a very powerful weapon.

Finally, there was Naruto's attitude towards it all. Sasuke viewed the _Sharingan_ as a means for vengeance; the blond on the other hand viewed his as a powerful gift and as something not to abuse. He asked for permission to copy the _Byaku Chakra_ when he could have done so without it. It just showed the difference in their personality.

Looking up towards the horizon, he sighed as could see the palette of colors slowly painting the sky, signifying morning's arrival. The battle was soon and he needed to watch it to make sure nobody killed anyone.

With that final thought, he jumped off the roof and walked into the house to get some coffee.

* * *

Sakura and Sasuke walked up to the house to grab some breakfast near eight o'clock. They needed to get some food into their stomachs before they fought their blond teammate; otherwise, it would be a repeat of the bell test.

The green-eyed kunoichi mastered the fire technique Sasuke decided to teach her. It was basic, but with her small reserves it was the best he could offer. She was nowhere near the chakra monster Naruto was, and she doubted she could pull half the attacks Sasuke could, but she made due.

Both of them were greeted by their sensei: "Ah, I see you guys came in for breakfast."

"Have you seen Naruto yet?" asked Sasuke as he took a seat at the table, shortly joined by Sakura.

Kakashi nodded his head in confirmation. "Yes, as a matter of fact he was here about an hour ago to eat, but he quickly went back to his favorite clearing to train some more."

Sasuke nodded as he dug into his food. Both Sakura and he were tired because of the lack of sleep and a large amount of training. So, both of them decided they were going to relax before they walked up to the clearing where the fight would take place.

Inari could be seen at the other end of the table, death glaring the Haruno and Uchiha. He couldn't just sabotage the battle or otherwise his surrogate big brother would get mad. But that didn't mean he could come and watch; he really did want to see Naruto go full out in a battle.

"Alright, I guess I should be a good sensei and give some advice to my students," spoke the copy-cat as he sat his eating utensils on the now empty plate.

This quickly got Sasuke and Sakura's attention. What did they need to know about their blond teammate they didn't already? He only used the _Shadow Clone Technique_ and relied mostly on taijutsu. They would admit that Naruto could come up with some brilliant plans on the wire, but that was if he'd hunker down and think or keep his temper in check.

"I imagine you're wondering why I'm doing this," continued the copy-cat, "but let me be the first to say that Naruto has experienced a spike in strength ever since his battle with the fake hunter-nin. My only advice is to not underestimate him, or otherwise you'll lose."

"How has he gotten stronger?" asked Sasuke with a grimace –this didn't sound too good.

Kakashi thought about it for a moment before he told them: "Training. Lots and lots of training. I do believe he added another jutsu to his arsenal, but I can't be sure of that one. But again I say: don't underestimate your opponent. That is the quickest deciding factor in shinobi battles; keep that in mind and you'll do great."

"It shouldn't be a problem," spoke Sasuke with a smirk. "I mean, I do have my _Sharingan_ and Sakura has learned a new technique."

The scarecrow just shook his head in exasperation. "True, the _Sharingan_ is a tool –a powerful tool- but nonetheless, you should not take it for granted. Get cocky and you're going to lose."

_Naruto can understand this; it took him less than three seconds to understand this lesson. Hell, he discovered it on his own without me having to tell him,_ thought the copy-cat. _I guess you're going to have to learn some humility, Sasuke. It's sad that you're called a genius, but Naruto has learned, by far, more than you._

"Now that I have given you my advice, I'm going to find Naruto and give some that he may need," he said as he excused himself from the table.

"Wait, why are you helping both sides?" asked Sakura.

Kakashi put a hand up to his face as he thought about it for a minute. "Because you're all my students and I want to give you all equal chances. Now, if you'll excuse me, I will be heading to talk to Naruto. Oh, and relax or otherwise you'll burn out your bodies before the fight."

Both of them nodded as he left. Sakura left to go up to her room to take a nap while Sasuke did likewise after they were done eating.

* * *

Naruto was quietly sitting down with his legs crossed as he stared at the pond in front of him with something akin to annoyance.

For the past couple hours, he trained to use the _Water Release: Water Guillotine_, but to say the move was difficult to master would have been an understatement. The water needed to splice things had to be absolutely sharp; otherwise, the most that'd be accomplished was making the opponent wet. This required fine-tuned chakra control in order to sharpen the guillotine's edges, something Naruto severely lacked. Supposedly, one could sharpen them enough to slice a metal kunai in half, but again, it required control.

Despite this, the blond continued through the night to get it. He had gotten down the basics, but the sharpening part was killing him.

"You look like you had a good night," noted the copy-cat as he walked into the clearing.

Naruto looked up with a smile on his face, but it quickly changed into an aggravated scowl as he stared back at the water.

"I've been trying to get this water jutsu down, but I can't sharpen the edges," explained Naruto.

"Mind telling me what technique it is? I might be able to help you," offered Kakashi as he sat down next to him.

"It's called _Water Release: Water Guillotine_, but like I said, I can't sharpen it."

"Sounds like a good move; never quite heard of it though."

"That's because Haku invented it before he died. It's a B-class jutsu."

The wiry man gave a low whistle as he listened to the info about the attack. Not only did it sound good, but it was obviously a very effective attack.

"That would explain it," said Kakashi, grabbing his student's attention. "You would probably need to know the water walking exercise before you master it. If it's a jounin class attack, it would need equal control, but I doubt you'll be able to learn it in a couple hours."

Naruto hung his head as he took in what he had to do. The attack just seemed to be out of his reach, but he would get it sooner or later.

"So, what do you plan on doing during the fight?" asked Kakashi.

Naruto looked at him for a second as he thought about. He was too busy training to come up with a plan of attack, but now that he thought about it, it would be smart to come up with something. But he promised himself one thing, though.

"I don't want to use the _Sharingan_," the blond muttered with finality.

The Hatake raised an eyebrow as he looked at his student. "Why would that be? You copied it, therefore you should use it."

"Yeah, but it's Sasuke's and I don't want to fight like that prick," answered the sun-kissed boy with another scowl.

"So, I'm just going to assume that you're going to use _Hyouton_ and _Byaku Chakra_."

"I'm definitely going to use _Hyouton_, but I don't know about the _Byaku Chakra_, mainly because I don't know how to fully use it." Naruto then turned to his teacher with hopeful eyes. "You wouldn't mind teaching me to use it would you?"

Kakashi smiled under his mask as he heard him. That's what he loved about teaching Naruto. He was so open to learning something new, whether it was just another lesson or a new jutsu.

The scarecrow could probably attest this to the academy when the blond was there and how they might've stunted the boy's growth by holding him back. If this was true, it was possible Naruto could've been at Sasuke's level in latent talent alone. This further explained why he absorbed everything he was taught like a sponge.

"No, I don't have a problem," said Kakashi as he stood and put his hands in his pockets, "But you're going to have to go through a couple quick lessons without using your Limit; otherwise, you lose your chance to switch Limits in battle, and we don't want that."

"No problem, but what are you going to teach me?" Naruto was immediately on his feet with his foxy grin, waiting for the lesson.

His teacher turned to him with a slight smile at the boy's eagerness. "Well, for starters, I'll be honest and say that I don't use it often because it messes with my _Sharingan_, which might be good for you with your battle with Sasuke and Sakura; also partly because my reserves are small. But this shouldn't be a problem for you because of your naturally high reserves thanks to the Kyuubi."

"Alright, I can see some of that, but what are you supposed to do?" asked the blond again.

"Well," continued the former ANBU captain, "_Byaku Chakra_ is a very taijutsu oriented Limit. You constantly have to saturate the air with it, but by doing so, you allow a whole different form of hand-to-hand combat. This also gives you a larger sense of touch as people within the range of the saturated air can be sensed, whether or not you're looking at them. Let me give you a demonstration."

Naruto watched as his sensei walked over to a nearby tree and took out his hands from his pockets. Immediately, the blond could sense the chakra fill the air, centering on his teacher.

Then his eyes widened as Kakashi lightly punched the tree, but kept an inch away from it. Not even a second later, the side of the tree splintered, leaving a hole about a foot wide.

"How the…?!" spoke the dumfounded blond.

"Chakra displacement," Kakashi answered the half-spoken question. "I gathered the chakra I placed in the air into my fist and released it, but it released so fast that I smashed the tree."

Naruto became even more shocked as he saw his teacher step ten feet away and then make a punching motion again, gathering the chakra in the air. He then heard a punch knock some of the bark of the tree; it didn't do nearly as much damage as the last attack, but it was still something worth seeing.

"As you can see," explained Kakashi as he put his hands back into his pockets; at the same time, his body became a black hole, sucking in all the loose white chakra in the air, "using the same attack I can send punches through the air to about ten feet, but as you saw, the attack was about the same as if I was going to normally attack someone. The closer you are the more damage."

"When will I be able to learn that!?" said Naruto with a grin that threatened to split his face in half.

"I'm afraid that you won't be able to learn it for a while." The blond boy's smile quickly became an annoyed look as his teacher explained it to him. "_Byaku Chakra_ is actually difficult to control because it's so much denser than normal chakra. As a matter of fact, if you used it, your chakra capacity may even triple. I would teach you this now, but the control this requires is comparable to the Hyuga _Jyuuken_."

"Then why show me all that cool stuff if I can't learn it now?" asked Naruto as he scratched the back of his head.

"I wanted to give you an example, but I also wanted you to try and use the chakra saturation that you saw. It's just a matter of you continually releasing it into the air. And, like I said before, it can mess over some doujutsu and make it to where the _Sharingan_ can't fully copy things. Got that?"

His student bobbed his head up and down rapidly. It as a lot to take in, but watching the _Byaku Chakra_ in full action was absolutely awesome. He couldn't wait to use it against his rival.

"Now that I've given you your hint like your other teammates, I'm going to go and relax for the rest of the time. Good luck with the water jutsu."

Naruto watched as his sensei walked out of the clearing while dragging out his little orange book. He quickly got back to his water jutsu, still troubled with sharpening the water curtain.

* * *

Twelve o'clock didn't come slow enough as Sasuke and Sakura slowly made their way to the clearing they agreed to meet everyone at. As they stepped into it, they found Naruto already there, sitting on rock with his legs crossed while wearing his infamous foxy grin.

"You still up to this Dobe?" asked Sasuke, wearing his superiority smirk.

Naruto adopted a serious look that he had only seen when there was a battle to be fought, just like when they were going to fight the fake hunter-nin.

"I would eat my own sandals before I'd back down from you!" yelled the blond from across the clearing.

Everyone turned as Kakashi made his appearance in the clearing with a puff of smoke. It was odd to see him without his nose in his famous book for once. But he had to be serious for this event. The infamous _Sharingan_ was going against the _Kyoukagan_, a Bloodline Limit that copied other Limits. He had to be.

Naruto stood up and jumped off the rock as Kakashi's voice was rang from his position across the clearing, "Alright, I want a fair, clean match. Anything goes, but there will be no killing. If I feel things are getting out of hand, I will intervene. Now, it's a two on one match with Naruto against Sasuke and Sakura. Fighters ready?"

Naruto nodded and quickly shattered his eyes with a quick spike of chakra. He still didn't have a clue which Limit he was going to start with, but he was still going to give hell, even if one of his enemies right now was the girl he was crushing on.

Sasuke activated his Doujutsu, like Naruto, while Sakura flipped out a kunai. They had a small plan ready before they came to the clearing, but it was dependent on a lot of things.

"BEGIN!" yelled their teacher.

Naruto made the first move as he jumped backwards, all the while doing his favorite hand seal. Another second later, ten clones appeared and began to charge the Uchiha and Haruno.

Sasuke tracked them all with the _Sharingan_ and began his counter attack while Sakura began swiping at them with her knife. Thirty seconds later, the clones were destroyed and both quickly set their sights on their teammate, but it was long enough for him to decide what he was going to use.

Naruto could feel the shards falling out of his eyes, signaling an active Limit, but nobody saw due to the goggles. Even Kakashi was wondering what he had chosen to use. The blond once again did another hand seal and formed at least twenty clones, beginning another surge of attacks.

This time, the duo had gotten tired of taijutsu and both began to do hand seals.

Sakura was the first one done. _"Fire Release: Ember Shot!"_

Sasuke had likewise finished his. "_Fire Release: Immortal Phoenix Flame!"_

The pink haired kunoichi began to fire off small fireballs from the palms of her hand while Sasuke pelted off even bigger, faster flames from his mouth. The combined attack quickly burned all the clones, even as Naruto kept on making them. Finally, the blond felt it was time to reveal his new move for all to see.

Sasuke watched with a smile as he saw Naruto go through six hand seals, but his smirk fell of quickly as his _Sharingan_ saw the workings of the jutsu, but wasn't allowing him to copy it.

_What the hell?! What's going on!?_ Sasuke confusedly shouted in his mind.

He quickly got his answer as Naruto took a deep breath: _"Ice Release: Frostbite!"_

The blond blew outwards, sending an icy wind that quickly froze whatever it touched with a very thin layer of ice. It quickly doused the fires the duo started, causing them to take a step back in caution. Naruto quickly went through them again and breathed another ice wind, making the two dodge by jumping to the side.

"Sasuke-kun!"

The aforementioned boy looked to where he heard his name and saw Sakura gripping her left arm. His eyes picked up a thin layer of frost that was slowly going up the side of her arm, encasing it and making her skin go pale. She had been unlucky enough to get the tail end of the attack.

"My arm, it's numb! I can't move it!" she yelled towards him with wide eyes.

Sasuke rounded on Naruto with his fury starting to burn at him again, but before he could even start the hand seals for another attack, his blond teammate finished up another set. Another cold wind struck where he was standing and like everything else the icy wind caressed, everything developed a thin layer of frost.

Sakura tried to distract her teammate long enough so that her partner could finish some hand seals and quickly began to pelt Naruto with kunai with only her good arm. The blond saw it all coming and pulled his own knife, blocking all the attacks, but it wasn't enough as a few managed to get past his guard, leaving him with a couple cuts.

"_Fire Release: Grand Fireball Technique!"_

Naruto ran through his own hand seals as quickly as possible. _"Ice Release: Frostbite!"_

Fire and ice clashed as the two attacks hit head on. Extreme heat and chilling cold pushed against the other, threatening to overtake the other. While the two played tug-o-war, Sakura took her chance as she got behind the distracted jinchuuriki. She once more began to pelt him, this time with shuriken, hoping to get a lucky hit.

Her efforts weren't in vain as Naruto got pinned with a couple of stars, making him lose concentration. The blond quickly abandoned ship as he jumped out of the way before he could get roasted.

On the other end of the attack Sasuke smirked as he felt another tomoa enter his eyes. Now things were going to get interesting.

The moment the jinchuuriki landed, he did his favorite hand seal, creating even more clones while he stood back, watched, and planned. They were quickly picked off as Sasuke began to mercilessly pound the clones with fireballs while Sakura resorted to exploding tags attached to her kunai, causing a couple craters.

The two jumped out of the way as another icy wind blew past them, but Sasuke found himself grinding his teeth as he felt his foot suddenly go numb. He tripped as he landed, but Sakura was already protecting him, pelting fireballs as she got her feeling back in her arm.

Naruto created a clone as the pink haired girl's attacks came at him. The clone promptly grabbed its creator and threw him into the air. Sakura looked above as Naruto did his favorite hand seal again, creating several aerial clones that dived at her. Her partner was already at her side as he finished his hand seals and sent another firestorm at the incoming human missiles.

A couple of the clones got past the blasts and began to attack the ebony-haired boy in taijutsu, but his _Sharingan_ picked apart the attacks better than ever thanks to his new tomoa. His self victory was quickly denounced as he felt a couple of the blond boy's punches connect with his back, causing him to stumble a bit. He quickly rounded on them and finished them off with several quick attacks.

The Uchiha turned his attention elsewhere and ran to Sakura's side as she was thrown to the ground. Grabbing a set of kunai, he quickly launched them at the clones, but they quickly dodged. He smiled, though, as he maneuvered the stars with near invisible wires, causing them to hit a good deal of the clones and making them disappear with a puff of smoke. One of them even hit the genuine article.

Taking full advantage of the opening, he quickly sent another grand fireball towards the blond, but as the attack hit, the flames split apart as his enemy began to retaliate with another frostbitten wind.

Naruto felt confused as the attack suddenly stopped, but found the reason as Sakura came up to his side and slashed at him with her knife. It managed to cut him on the hand, but nothing too deep.

Unfortunately for his teammate, some of the blood launched from the wound, landing right into her eyes and making her give a pained yelp.

"Sakura-chan!" yelled Naruto as he watched her stumble back while trying to rub at her eyes furiously.

"Stop the match for a second!" yelled Kakashi as he trotted next to her.

Sasuke stopped, but with an angry grunt, while Naruto looked on with worry, clutching his lightly bleeding hand. Thankfully, the wound was already closing up as the Kyuubi's chakra poured into it.

Kakashi had Sakura open her eyes to see that they were bloodshot. Digging into his pouch he pulled out a water bottle and quickly began to rinse her eyes.

After he got the blood out, he felt his visible eye widen as he saw red splotches on her irises. A second later, they faded into the normally vibrant green eyes.

There was something just a little off about that.

He quickly turned to the other members of Team Seven that were looking on with worry. "Sakura can no longer fight for reasons out of our hands. Continue the fight when I say."

Both of them nodded and watched as the only female member of Team Seven walked beside her teacher while rubbing furiously at her eyes, even as she sat down on the boulder next to Kakashi.

"Alright, begin again!" announced the copy-cat.

Sasuke already launched himself at Naruto at high speeds. Even if Sakura was out, he wanted those goggles to come off, and there was no way that he was going to allow the Dobe to win!

Seeing his enemy coming at him, Naruto formed more clones and charged at him. With the _Sharnigan_, the Uchiha stopped his charge and began to pick off clones as they came near him. But the blonds quickly disappeared while the real one fired off another _Ice Release: Frostbite._

Sasuke wasn't about to take the attack rolling over. He flashed through his own hand seals and fired off several fireballs, attacking the wind and slowing it down before it could layer him in ice.

As he finished up with his initial attack, he finished another set of seals and breathed another grand fireball that pushed back the icy in wind in full, but his target was launched into the air before he could take the hit by a clone he summoned.

Just as Naruto landed a distance away, Sasuke rocketed into the air and threw more shuriken. The blond watched with a smile as he saw all of them go around him.

"Ha! Your aim sucks… ACK!" the blond stopped as he got tied to a nearby tree.

Sasuke tightened the wires while smirking as he went through a quick set of hand seals. His teammate knew he was in trouble, especially when he saw the fire building up on the wires.

He had only one shot at this; one mishap and he was going to get fried like a toad on an open fire. The _Kyoukagan_ user shattered his eyes and removed the stormy colored irises associated with _Hyouton_ users and changed his eye color in favor a _Byaku Chakra_ user.

Just as the fire got halfway down the wires, the blond made his counterattack and shoved raw, white chakra into the wires and down towards the Uchiha at the other end. Sasuke looked in disbelief as a white chakra cut past the fire and straight at him. With what felt like an electrical shock, he flew backwards as he was hit with the raw chakra, loosening the binds on the blond.

As quickly as he could before Sasuke could recover, he pulled out a shuriken and began to charge it with _Byaku Chakra_, making the weapon glow white. Sasuke stood up, but watched as Naruto threw weapon. Normally, a simple throwing star would make a simple whistling sound as it cut through the air, but Naruto's sounded like a buzz-saw gone crazy.

Out of panic, the ebony haired boy pulled out a kunai and blocked the incoming star, only to watch as the weapon continued to push into his weapon, making him stumble backwards. When the shuriken finally stopped, the weapon smoldered from the friction while his kunai was sliced halfway through.

He quickly jumped out of the way as ten more of the stars-gone-demented swept past him.

Naruto then got the bright idea of using a kunai instead. Unlike Kakashi, he put the chakra _into_ the knife rather than coat it with the white chakra.

Sasuke looked towards Naruto, but quickly bent his knees backwards as his _Sharingan_ barely caught a glimpse of a weapon of some kind screaming past his face. Everyone watched as the knife shot into the side of the tree and made it explode, showering the area with splinters.

Needless to say, the maelstrom liked what he saw and pulled out all of his remaining kunai. Sasuke got back up from his fall in time to jump into the air to dodge nine whistling, white kunai with a tails of white chakra in their wake. Where the knives hit, craters formed from the sheer speed and force the kunai packed.

Naruto looked up to see Sasuke going through hand seals for one last attack, a very large _Fire Release: Grand Fireball Technique._ The blond caught on to what this meant: it was the end of the battle and time for one last attack. He quickly began to pour as much chakra as he could into his last weapon, hoping to be able to cut the fire like he did last time and get to his target.

Kakashi saw what was coming and began to worry for his students' lives. Before the final blows could be unleashed he went through his own hand seals faster than the two combined.

Both of the boys looked to the left in time for a whistling gale of wind to sweep through the area and send them flying into the trees, making them lose concentration on their attacks and allowing the chakra charging their attacks to escape.

Before they could ask what happened, they heard Kakashi's voice ring through the clearing. "Due to the threat of you two killing each other, I call this match a draw."

"HEY, I WAS ABOUT TO WIN!" shouted Naruto in retaliation.

Sasuke didn't answer but he looked absolutely murderous. Kakashi stared at them for a long while, trying to get it through their thick skulls just how much danger they were in.

"I said in the rules not to kill each other," the silver-haired man told them harshly. "What you both were about to do would have, at the least, caused serious injury, or even worse; for that reason, I decided it was fit for me to intervene."

Sasuke ground his teeth in aggravation. Victory was so close that he could taste it. Had he been given another second, he would now be seeing what was beyond the goggles.

Naruto on the other hand realized what he almost done and began to hang his head in shame. Had he thrown that knife, it would have cut through the fire and then it might have shot straight through Sasuke, probably killing him. He had lost control, so intent to grasp victory and show the Teme that he was more than a dead last.

"I'm sorry sensei," muttered Naruto as he slowly got up.

"It's okay, but don't let this happen again," the wiry man spoke, this time with a much softer voice.

* * *

The walk home was quiet, except for when Sakura would growl in annoyance and scratch her eyes.

Throughout the trip back, the Uchiha heir kept thinking to himself. He saw how the kunai began to glow white and how much chakra Naruto was pouring into it. Would he have won if his opponent threw that weapon? The white chakra he saw did cut through the fire he had sent down the wires.

It hit him like a sledgehammer. Had Naruto thrown that knife, the win would have gone to the Dobe. He grinded his teeth at the thought of losing to the dead last. He would have won and he, the Uchiha, the most elite of Konoha, would have been under the village idiot's feet.

That wasn't mentioning the unique ice move he saw the blond use. He couldn't copy it no matter how many times he watched Naruto go through the hand seals. That wasn't right; the _Sharingan_ could copy almost anything as long as it wasn't a Bloodline…

That's when he realized it: the blond did have a Limit of some kind at his disposal. Now he felt like crap. Knowing Naruto and he shared a common characteristic like that didn't make him feel any better.

Even though he didn't know it, he accepted Naruto as his rival that very moment. It was no longer a joke. The blond could match him, as evidenced by his duel in the forest. He had to get stronger or otherwise he was going to lose this arms race.

He heard a cough and turned to Sakura to see that she was starting to look sick. Her eyes were glazed over while her cheeks were beginning to take a pink hue, a sign she was experiencing a fever.

Event though he wouldn't admit it to anybody, he did feel a small connection with her. She had stuck with him through those plans to get Naruto talking, but he really began to take notice of her that night when they trained. He got a small look into her soul and could see that she was more than the fan girl he knew.

And even though he wouldn't admit to anyone, looking at her now, he was beginning to worry for her health.

"Sakura, are you okay? You're starting to look sick," he asked nonchalantly.

"Yeah, I'm fine, but my eyes are killing me and giving me a headache," Sakura answered.

Even Kakashi was looking at her with worry. He couldn't place why she would be sick all of a sudden, but he could tell it wasn't good.

"Sorry about getting some blood in your eyes," Naruto apologized, looking upset.

Everyone was relieved as they caught sight of the house, finally glad that they were going to get some rest after the day's events.

Kill Joy no Jutsu (A.K.A. Author's Note): Well, here's the next chapter. It came out much sooner, but the reviews made me bounce off the walls and gave some incentive to write some more. Hope you all like the small fight scene, but since it isn't as major of a battle that we can expect to see later on during the Chunin Exams (thus why it's a little shorter than I'm known for).

I hoped by giving these other abilities to Kakashi I can give you all a better idea of what the Howaido Chakra is capable of, but don't expect Naruto to learn it for a while. He just knows how to super charge the weapons but that's it. Our favorite blond unfortunately lacks a lot of control, but Kakashi will definitely fix that.

This is the last chapter for the Wave arc and we'll be heading to Konoha. Just letting you all know.

I understand there are some mysteries going down now (I doubt I have to tell you all what they are) and I won't be able to tell you all until the Chunin Exam arc. Oh well.

Now onto the original jutsu and limits.

Forbidding Scroll of Techniques:

Fire Release: Ember Shot- Jujutsu- High D Rank- A simple fire jutsu that requires a person to concentrate the necessary heat into the palms of the hands. Very simple to learn and a good starting point for people who might turn into firebugs. Despite the simplicity, the fireballs are smaller than normal, and therefore easier to counter.

Ice Release: Frostbite- Bloodline Limit- No Rank- One of Haku's attacks before he passed away. Rather than starting with water chakra and inserting wind chakra to create ice, this does the exact opposite, putting the water chakra into the wind chakra. When used, it freezes air particles causing frost and extreme cold for anyone that the wind hits. If hit, it causes first degree frostbite and prevents a person from using chakra for a short while. Though, if the user does it wrong, they could end up accidentally freezing their windpipe.


	5. Transcendent Bloodlines

**Chapter 5- Transcendent Bloodlines**

Sasuke and Naruto both awoke to having water poured on them, courtesy of a basic water jutsu. The blond of the group naturally let a string of curses run through the air as he began to ring out his clothing while Sasuke gave a quick look to his teammate to see that the maelstrom had once again slept in with his goggles on.

Both boys looked towards the culprit, half expecting it to be Sakura, but to their surprise, a tired looking Kakashi stared at them with his single eye.

"Breakfast," he simply said before he walked back down to the dining room.

The two quickly got dressed and ran downstairs, only to be surprised again to see their pink-haired teammate absent.

"Where's Sakura?" asked Sasuke as he took his seat.

The copy-cat sighed as he sat down his empty cup of coffee and stared at them for minute, attempting to figure how he was going to word his answer. Tsunami, who had just entered into the room with the food, took on a worried look as she stood there waiting for him to talk. Naruto and Sasuke quickly noticed that she had bags under her eyes.

"I won't lie," began the wiry man. "She's sick with something we can't identify. Last night, Tsunami and I both watched her after she began to spit up blood. Sakura has a high grade fever and her eyes are bloodshot. There are a lot of other symptoms, but it would be those that are the more dominant ones."

"Then what are we going to do?" asked Naruto with a great deal of worry in his voice.

"Tazuna, when is the bridge going to be finished?" asked the masked man as he turned to the bridge builder.

The old man mulled it in his head for a couple seconds. "In about a week."

Kakashi nodded. "I'm sorry to say this, but we're going to have to cut this mission short. All of us we'll be heading back once we pack all of our things. Right now, Sakura needs medical attention as soon as possible."

"WHAT!?" shouted Inari from across the other end of the table, "but…"

"I'm sorry," said the scarecrow with a hint of finality, "but we have to leave. Naruto, Sasuke, start packing once you get done with breakfast."

Both of them nodded as they began to wolf down their food so they could get ready to go. Inari sat at the end of the table while looking downtrodden. His surrogate big brother was leaving much earlier than he thought he would.

* * *

Two hours later, Kakashi was seen piggybacking Sakura while Sasuke and Naruto were standing next to him with their backpacks in tow. He thought it was his imagination, but the scarecrow would've sworn the Uchiha was giving his sick teammate worried glances every several seconds.

"I guess this is good-bye," began Tazuna with sadness in his aged eyes. "You guys helped so much. I honestly don't know how to repay you, but for starters, I managed to get someone at the docks that'll give you a ride home."

"Much obliged," thanked Kakashi.

Naruto turned to a crying Inari, trying to figure out how to the get the boy to relax. The young kid had become something akin to a little brother during his time there.

"Sorry… for crying," said Inari in between sniffs.

"It's okay to cry you know," Naruto could feel himself on the verge of tears, but that was the last thing he wanted, speaking he only cry liquid silver nowadays. "But you're going to make me cry."

Sasuke on the other hand kept looking at Sakura with worry evident on his normally stoic face. His friend (if he could call her that) was breathing erratically, and her body was racked with shivers in between each breathe. Like his sensei said, her cheeks were tinged with a deep crimson, the tell-tale sign of a very nasty fever. They had to leave _now_.

"Can we _please_ get going?" Sasuke suggested with an edge, hoping to hurry the show.

With the final good-byes from Tsunami, Tazuna, and Inari, Team Seven began their long trek home.

"I know what we should name the bridge!" shouted Inari as he saw their retreating backs, getting his family's attention. "We should call it the Great Naruto Bridge!"

The aged bridge builder mulled the name in his mind. He did want it to be named after him, but the blond ninja did bring back hope to his village. Tazuna guessed that it was fitting that it should be named after Naruto.

"Alright, why not?! Today, the bridge shall be known as the Great Naruto Bridge!"

* * *

"Once we get back onto land," explained Kakashi to his conscious students, "we'll move at full speed so that we can back to Konoha before nightfall. Right now, we can't afford to waste time; otherwise, we might lose Sakura."

Both of them nodded as they took in just how dire the situation was.

The two boys turned to look ahead of them, watching as their boat skimmed across the water at full speed. Their hair whipped about from the erratic winds caused by the speed they traveled across the water, and sometimes it splash and shower them in a cool spray. It was so much nicer than they remembered when they first entered the Wave Country.

Thankfully, because Gato was gone, they could now use a boat engine without much fear.

Sakura lay in the center of the boat with her head propped against her backpack that Kakashi had been carrying with him. Surprisingly, Sasuke sat by her side the entire trip.

Naruto would have commented on his teammate's unusual behavior around Sakura, but he didn't feel that now was the right time to aggravate anybody, lest he lose any body parts he wished to keep.

Team Seven caught sight of the dock leading back to solid land. The moment the boat touched it, Kakashi quickly picked up Sakura and her supplies and then the ninja rocketed out of the boat towards home. The man whom had been working the motor whistled as he saw the speeds they moved at.

* * *

The run back to Konoha was silent, mainly because Naruto and Sasuke were hard pressed to keep up with their masked teacher, even when the man was carrying someone. They basically had no time to argue.

It was almost nightfall and everyone was eager to see the gates of Konoha and to get Sakura to the hospital. Naruto couldn't wait to get his hands on his favorite meal and to see Iruka, but Sasuke had other plans. He needed to train; he wanted to keep ahead of Naruto in their personal arms race, and to not have a repeat of their first battle.

If they all weren't going full speed, everyone would have sighed in relief as the famous wooden gates of the Village Hidden in the Leaves came into view.

* * *

To say that gate duty was boring would be like saying that Jiraiya was just an average pervert. It was a huge understatement. Nobody liked the job. As a matter of fact, most shinobi went out of their way to avoid it.

To the guards at the front of the gates, the team of Konoha-nin heading their way was a godsend. Their boredom would end for a couple minutes at least.

"Open up," ordered Kakashi as he and his team stopped in front of the gates. "Right now we don't have time to spare. One of my team is direly sick and needs medical attention ASAP."

One of them nodded and quickly opened the gates, greeting everyone to the sight of their home. They were never so happy to have their eyes looking out on the village.

Before Sasuke and Naruto could be left to their own devices, their teacher cut their escape short: "Now, before you go off. I want you two to meet me by the usual spot tomorrow. And Naruto, you and I are going to have a private talk with Sandaime later as well."

The two members of Team Seven nodded their heads in confirmation.

Sasuke, though, couldn't help but wonder why his sensei and blond teammate needed to meet with the Hokage. Maybe because it had something to do with Naruto's Limit… That would make sense. After all, it wasn't everyday a Bloodline Limit manifested at random. It still aggravated him that he didn't have a clue what it was, but kept his annoyances behind his usual mask of indifference.

"Okay, see you later sensei! Make sure you tell us what's wrong with Sakura tomorrow!" shouted Naruto as he ran for his favorite ramen stand.

With that, the remaining two members of Team Seven, Kakashi and Sasuke, split their paths and went to do their own business: Kakashi to drop off Sakura at the hospital and to talk to Sarutobi; and for Sasuke, to train.

* * *

The blond knew the path to Ichiraku's like the back of his hand. He even knew how to get there through the nearby sewer system, having had to use the sewer lines once when some Chunin tailed him for a prank he pulled when he was younger. Good times! Sadly, he hadn't been home to pull any pranks lately, but he was back and going to...

He stopped mid thought and mid step as his _Kyoukagan's_ sixth sense kicked in, a sign that someone nearby owned Bloodline Limit. Naruto swiveled his head as he searched for the person, taking a keen look at every person's face that passed by. He calmed down, knowing his sense worked better if her concentrated, and as if by magic he sensed that the person was in the general direction of his favorite ramen stand.

What luck! It was dinner and a new Bloodline Limit in one run!

Without a second thought, he ran towards the person, shoving people as he went and earning some choice words. But it didn't matter to him that he was being rude to people; there was a new Limit he needed to copy… or at least to ask the person for permission to. All he needed to do was find out who owned the Limit and what it did.

As he got to Ichiraku's, he finally caught sight of the source of the signature.

Had it not been for his goggles, his eyes would have launched out of their sockets.

The person was sitting at the counter and eating a bowl of ramen. Naruto could recognize that pineapple hair-style from a mile away. It was none other than Umino Iruka sitting down and enjoying his favorite meal.

The said man perked up and then turned around to meet his shocked student. "Hey Naruto! Welcome back."

Iruka's welcoming smile morphed into a confused look as he saw Naruto's gawking face –the water goggles were also a new addition to his surrogate brother's attire. Something Iruka didn't expect to ever happen come to pass: Naruto's eyes rolled into the back of his head and he then fell backwards.

* * *

Sarutobi sat behind his desk wide eyed while staring at the masked Hatake with as much shock as someone telling him that Make-Out Paradise had been canceled. His pipe was smoking as it balanced from his mouth, the smell of burned tobacco drifting faintly through the room. Sarutobi had to pull out his pipe halfway through Kakashi's story of the _Kyoukagan_ to calm his nerves.

Naruto truly was the most unpredictable ninja in the world, having pulled something out of the left field and gained such a powerful Bloodline Limit. This allowed an unlimited amount of possibilities for the blond through the copying of Limits! Shinobi nations would go as far as war to claim such a prize!

"Kakashi, do you know what this means?" the aged man asked.

"I have a partial idea," answered the scarecrow.

"Yes, I imagine you do," continued the Sandaime. "This puts Naruto on a pedestal much higher than even Sasuke; so much so that we can't even tell the council about this. The _Kyoukagan_ is just too valuable to let anyone know about it unless it's absolutely necessary."

"I know," agreed Kakashi. "Naruto's Bloodline Limit is so valuable that any nation would go to war just to claim it. I can see why you wouldn't want to tell the council, though. The moment any of them finds out, they might try to marry-off Naruto. Inoichi would probably be the first to make a run for it too…"

"I would agree," the elder said, "but the elders wouldn't be the only ones to pull such a stunt. Some of the friendlier nations might make an attempt at gaining the _Kyoukagan_ by such means. Either way, I'm glad you've kept it secret, and I'm proud of Naruto for actually using his brain by wearing those goggles."

The copy-cat chuckled. "Yes, he's much smarter than even I originally assumed. He did use some good strategy during his fight against Sakura and Sasuke. As a matter of fact, he would've won had I not interfered, but I felt my students' lives were more important."

Sarutobi reclined in his seat once more as he let his mind wonder, thinking of what the _Kyoukagan_ might entail. There was so much more to the _Kyoukagan_, but how did it come to come into being? It had to be related to _Rin'negan_ in some way, but if that was the case…

"Kakashi," the said man turned his attention to the aged man as the Sandaime spoke in a tone that meant business. "The _Kyoukagan_ isn't a Doujutsu."

"What? How's that possible?" asked the wiry man, his single eye widening a fraction from surprise.

The Hokage rocked back and forth in his seat for a couple seconds to gather his thoughts. "The _Kyoukagan_ isn't just a Doujutsu, despite how it shows in Naruto's eyes. The Doujutsu is just a small part of the Limit as a whole. What we are dealing with here is a Transcendent Bloodline Limit, much like the legendary Six-Way Eyes, the _Rin'negan_."

"What do you mean?"

Kakashi heard of the _Rin'negan_, but only in passing. Supposedly, the founder of the ninja world used the _Rin'negan_, but other than that, Kakashi was lacking in knowledge of the capabilities of said Limit.

"From the details I've gathered about the _Rin'negan_," explained the Sandaime, "it wasn't limited to the eyes. The users also had access to all six forms of chakra, along with a whole arsenal of other abilities. Thus, it was something more than just a Doujutsu. Most Limits are usually classified as Anatomy Manipulation, Bi-Element, or as Doujutsu, but the _Rin'negan_ and _Kyoukagan_ are all three, making them Transcendent Bloodline Limits."

"If this is true," questioned the masked jounin, "then how does this make the _Kyoukagan_ one these Limits?"

"Simple. Naruto's chakra is neutral, but changes into whatever form it needs," said Sarutobi while ticking off his fingers. "Then there is the body manipulation that occurs whenever he changes Limits. That's another. Finally, there is the Doujutsu which is the mark of the _Kyoukagan_ as a whole and the necessary key used to copy the Limits themselves."

For a second, Kakashi stood stock still as he took in everything, but then reclined backwards into his chair while shaking his head with his visible eye closed.

This was becoming _way_ too complicated for his tastes. He could thank Naruto for making his life a pain in the ass; the brat just had to develop a stupid (but valuable) Limit… Where was the simplicity in life!?

Nonetheless, Kakashi was able to glean from the Sandaime just how important Naruto's Limit was. If the _Kyoukagan_ was as great as the Hokage was making it out to be, there was no doubt it was something worth fighting for.

"Amazing… the person that everyone hates the most happens to have the one thing that everyone would want the most," the silver haired man mused to himself. "It's more ironic than anything."

"It is, isn't it?" said the aged man with a smile that quickly became a face of business. "But now we have to protect Naruto from everyone that would try to steal his Limit. Until we can discuss this some more with Naruto you're dismissed, but do not so much as breath a word of this to anyone."

Kakashi nodded and left to see his pink-haired student, leaving the Sandaime in his thoughts.

He needed information on Minato and Kushina. Maybe he could find something about their bloodlines and, whether or not they had any genetic quirks. There was a problem, though: the files were destroyed to keep Naruto safe, putting the late Yondaime and his wife's name forever in secrecy, except unto people that knew them.

Sarutobi needed to find one of those friends and he doubted Hiashi would have a clue about Naruto being his godson. What he needed was someone who knew them well, someone that had been close to them and wouldn't breathe a single secret they had… someone like Jiraiya.

Besides, the white haired pervert had yet to meet his grandson in the first place anyways.

Pressing his finger against the intercom on his desk, Sarutobi gave his orders to his secretary: "You have three minutes to get me the best hunter-nin team out there."

"Yes sir!" she yelled back frantically.

* * *

At the hospital, a female nurse was exchanging disbelieving glances from a sheet paper to the pinkette sleeping silently.

"Is she alright?" said a voice from behind her.

She spun and almost accidentally hit the newcomer with her hand. The nurse looked to see that it was a Jounin that wore a mask and with a single eye visible for all to see. It didn't take long for her to identify him as the legendary Kakashi 'Copy-Cat' Hatake.

"Well?" he asked expectantly.

He was nervous from the way he saw the woman giving disbelieving glances towards his student. Kakashi just hoped it wasn't anything lethal.

The nurse shook her head to clear her mind, and then answering with a careful tone: "Well, we stabilized her, and she's going to be fine. Her symptoms were on par with an extreme allergic reaction, but…"

The dark haired nurse pursed her lips as she pondered how she was going to describe this… medical oddity. What she was seeing on this girl's blood samples was just so... strange. She read about many medical peculiarities, but nothing was on par to what the blood samples told her.

"But…?" pushed Kakashi with impatience.

"Um…" she tried her best to gather the words. "What makes this so unusual is what caused the reaction. We took some blood samples earlier, but… well… Just look."

She handed the paper she was holding to silver-haired jounin so he could glance at himself, but to him, it was nothing but random rows of letters and numbers –in the back of his mind, he felt kind of stupid because he couldn't read what he was saying. His confusion was quickly fixed as the nurse explained.

"The top row of numbers and letters," she began to explain, "is her original DNA sequence. Her original DNA sample marked her as a normal person; no bells, no whistles. But that second sequence below the first one… it marks her as having a Bloodline Limit."

Kakashi's single eye almost popped out of its socket. For a minute that seemed like an eternity, he digested what the bombshell shoved into his eardrums. How the hell did Sakura get her own Limit when her family has no recorded history of being shinobi?

"But this is what's weird," continued the lady while putting a hand to her chin. "That third sequence… it's foreign DNA we managed to isolate. That's what caused her allergic reactions… and I might not be jumping the fence by saying that may have given her the Bloodline Limit. This is unheard of in medical history; people's DNA just doesn't change out of the blue!"

The scarecrow stared at the paper in disbelief. This had to be bad joke, or at least a _really_ weird dream he was having trouble waking up from.

If what the nurse said was true, Sakura would've needed to come into contact with someone's blood. The thing was that she didn't… He paused. It had only been since yesterday since her battle with Naruto. Kakashi remembered specifically watching as she cut Naruto on the hand… and then getting splashed in the eyes with stray drops of blood.

"What kind of Limit are we talking here?" he asked with a tone that made the nurse take a step back in slight fear.

She cleared her throat to distract herself for a second before she got back to the situation at hand. "I went over her and found nothing different with her eyes or anatomy; but her chakra... it's different. Her body is naturally producing two types of elemental chakra, which means we might have an elementally based Bloodline Limit on our hands."

Kakashi stared at the sleeping form of Sakura for a couple seconds, trying to decide what to do. This had to be because of Naruto's blood, but how was it possible? If it was because of his blond student's blood, he had to see Hokage-sama, and as soon as possible.

"Listen, and listen carefully," he ordered dangerously. "I'm going to go and grab Hokage-sama. You _will_ _not_ leave this room until I come back and if someone comes in you _will not_ say anything about this. Got it?"

She nodded her head frantically, feeling some of the killer intent in the air. Hatake Kakashi meant business and until he could figure out what was going on, he was going classify this as something that was going to be kept secret.

He left in a blur, making his way to the Hokage and leaving the nurse to take a seat and wait. She could tell one thing: she was as confused as hell.

* * *

"Now make sure that when you find him, you tell him that we're opening a new bathhouse and were going to name it after him in his honor and that he should be here for the grand opening," suggested the Hokage. "If you don't tell him this, you'd have to knock him unconscious to bring him back, and that isn't something that'll work."

The males of the squad of hunter-nin just snickered while the lone female of the group was far from pleased and three seconds away from trying to castrate every man within a block's radius. Sarutobi would have given them another excuse, especially when he felt the female's killer intent leaking into the air, but unless there was a nude woman and a good deal of sake involved, Jiraiya wasn't going to come quietly.

It was about when he was ready to dismiss the group that Kakashi slammed the doors leading into the room wide open and looking as if he had ran at full speed without stopping.

"You are dismissed and do not come back unless you have him," he said to the group of masked ninja.

As soon as they left, Kakashi made his worries known. "Hokage-sama, you need to come with me."

"Is something wrong?"

"It may have something to do with the _Kyoukagan;_ and if it does, then we are seriously going to have our hands full."

At the word _Kyoukagan_, Sarutobi quickly stood up and followed the masked-nin back to the hospital.

* * *

At the hospital, the nurse was starting to get bored, but quickly jumped up the moment the door opened to reveal the Sandaime himself.

"Would you mind telling me your name?" he asked.

"Um, it's Hikari sir," she answered meekly.

"Could you please hand me that blood sample sheet you showed Kakashi when he came here?" The said man walked in from behind while closing the door.

She nodded her head and quickly handed him the paper. Sarutobi's aged eyes scanned the paper before he looked up at her.

"What you've seen today will be considered an S-class secret from _everyone,"_ he said in a voice that meant business. "Treat Sakura here as if she was a normal patient and destroy all of her blood samples and any evidence that she has a Bloodline Limit for the moment."

"This is pretty serious, isn't it?" she asked in worry.

"You think?" answered the aged man sarcastically.

"I'll get to it!" Hikari squeaked while running out of the room as if the Shingami itself was chasing after her.

"As for you, Kakashi," said Sarutobi as he turned his attention to the masked man, "it seems that our original chat it going to have to continue back at my office."

* * *

It was starting to get past ten o'clock and Sasuke could be seen walking home from his team's favorite training area.

For one of the few times in his life, he felt as if there was someone that was egging him to get stronger. This _certain_ someone also became his rival, and if he got lazy then his blond teammate would push ahead of him on the power scale. That would be unacceptable! He wasn't going to allow the dead last to get ahead him! Not in a million years!

Along the way, his mind began to travel to other things.

If you told him two days ago he would be worrying about Sakura, he would've punched the person's face in and told them to stop talking like a crazy person. But now, here he was, worrying about her.

He saw a different side to Sakura when he trained her the night before their battle with Naruto. She was more… Well, he couldn't describe it. Maybe if she was a little stronger and less of a fan-girl, he would've noticed her sooner. All she needed was a helping hand in the right direction.

His attention was snatched from his thoughts as he caught sight of a flower shop, the one belonging to the Yanamaka family.

Maybe he could be a nice and get her some flowers for her stay in the hospital.

Shrugging his shoulders, he walked into the shop, not remembering that a certain blonde was a resident of the place. The moment he walked in, he regretted it as he saw the said platinum blonde washing the counters.

She looked up and almost squealed in excitement the moment she caught sight of the ebony haired boy.

"What could I do for you, Sasuke-kun?" she said with hearts in her eyes.

Said boy took a step back before he cleared his throat. "I need flowers for someone."

"Oh, really?! Would they be for me?!" Sasuke took another step back.

"Uh… no. I need them delivered to the hospital," he simply told her.

She looked a little downtrodden, but kept going on her job. Besides, if her father found out that she scared a customer away, he'd fly off the handle and she'd be at the receiving end of the stick.

"Alright, what would you like?" she said in a conceded tone.

Sasuke sighed in relief knowing he wouldn't have the girl coming attached to him in any way, shape and form in the next couple minutes. Maybe it was a good idea to get to get to know Sakura a bit more; then maybe the fan-girls would stop chasing him.

"What kind of flower arrangement could I get with this?" With that, he showed her some of the money he had on his person at the current moment, earning a raised eyebrow from the girl.

"That would get you a pretty good size one. Who might this be for?" she asked with genuine curiosity tinting her voice.

"Just deliver it to this person."

He took a nearby card and jotted down the name of the person for her to deliver to and quickly exited the building. When the Uchiha had disappeared, she quickly picked up the card and almost dropped it in shock to see that it was Sakura.

* * *

Naruto slowly blinked his eyes open and sat up to see that he wasn't at his own home. Looking carefully, he could see that he was at Iruka's house and he was on the couch in the living room.

"About time you got up," said Iruka as he walked in. "More or less, I'm curious to know what caused you to black out on me."

Naruto raised a shaking hand and pointed his finger at him while staring in disbelief.

Finally, he shouted what was aggravating him: "YOU HAVE A BLOODLINE LIMIT!"

Iruka just blinked at his student for a couple seconds, looking at Naruto as if he grew two heads.

"What makes you think that?" he asked.

"Don't lie to me! I can sense it!" yelled the blond while continuing to point an accusing finger at his former teacher.

Iruka just sighed: "Naruto, I don't have a Bloodline Limit."

"I'm willing to bet ten bowls of ramen you do!"

The teacher just smiled and shook his head. "Okay, how about you try to prove it."

He shouldn't have said that as it egged Naruto to do just that. The blond quickly got up and was about to take off the goggles, at least until he remembered he was trying his absolute best to keep his eyes as secret as possible. Among the people of Konoha, though, Naruto felt as if he could trust his teacher.

"Um, you wouldn't mind keeping a secret would you?" he asked, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

"Of course," his teacher answered.

With a foxy smile on his face, he took off the goggles, showing Iruka his mirror-like pupils. The man felt his eyes widen and couldn't help but stare at the eyes with shock. His favorite student had a Doujutsu and one that he had never seen nor heard of.

"Naruto, is that a Bloodline Limit?" Iruka asked, completely dumbfounded.

The blond bane of Konoha bobbed his head up and down. His foxy grin only widened. If there was someone Naruto could trust, it was Iruka, and he was pretty sure the teacher wouldn't say anything.

"Yep! I call it _Kyoukagan_!" he said with excitement.

"Do you know what it does?"

Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Well, I can copy other Limits by just looking at the person that has one. Oh, and I can sense people that have Limits, like you!"

He said the last part while pointing at his teacher once more. Iruka just blinked again, before he let an amused smile cross his face. It was then his turn to rub the back of his head.

"I didn't think anybody would find out," he said with a slight mixture of amusement and embarrassment.

"Ha! I knew it!" Naruto grinned in victory.

"Wait a minute," Iruka's smile was replaced by one of worry. "Naruto, did you say that you can copy other Bloodline Limits?"

"Yep! I already copied the _Sharingan, Hyouton_, and _Byaku Chakra_."

The teacher stared at his former student with disbelief. He never heard of such a Bloodline Limit, but he did have to agree with Kakashi on one thing: Naruto truly was the most unpredictable person on the face of the planet.

"So, why did you tell me you didn't have a Limit?" Iruka was cut from his musings to see that Naruto was wearing a very curious look.

He sighed as he got ready to explain. "Well, there are a lot of things you don't know about me that I've tried to keep secret. For starters, I do indeed have a Bloodline Limit, and second, I may be a Chunin in rank, but my abilities put me at a low S-class level."

Naruto's mouth dropped like a rock to the floor as soon as he heard his former teacher was a Kage-level ninja. But if that was true, then he could have kicked Mizuki's ass that night!

"You can't really be that strong! You could have beaten the living daylights out of Mizuki! So, why didn't you!?" he asked with a grimace, but was caught off guard as his teacher lightly chuckled.

"Well… I trusted you," his teacher explained. "I knew you wouldn't let Mizuki win that night, especially when you told me that you learned a move from the Forbidden Scroll. So, I acted like a normal Chunin that night just because I wanted to find out what it was."

Naruto stared at him for once in his life at a lost for words to yell at him for. His teacher thought a lot like Kakashi when in the middle of battle. To top that off, Iruka trusted him so much that he acted weaker than normal and put his life into his student's hands. He knew he could beat Mizuki that night.

"I…" Naruto started, still at a loss for words. Iruka trusted him that much?

"It's okay, not many people know this outside of Hokage-sama."

"Here's a question: if you're so good, then why do you teach?" the blond asked, scratching the side of his head in confusion.

Iruka only smiled again. "I just love to teach. Don't get me wrong; I've done a couple high level missions, but I like working at the academy. It's much more peaceful –although you and Konohamaru kind of ruin that peace and quiet. Now do you wish you paid more attention in class?"

"Yeah, I guess so," said Naruto, grimacing again.

"Now, why do you call it _Kyoukagan_?" his former teacher asked him.

With a smile much calmer than his others, Naruto felt the initiative to talk about his adventures in the country of Wave. Taking a seat, he explained the whole story, including the various encounters with Zabuza (much to Iruka's chagrin). The blond got emotional towards the parts involving Haku since he still felt that connection towards the boy, and he also told how the _Hyouton_ user was the inspiration for the name of his Doujutsu.

"That's quite a story, Naruto," said Iruka with a smile, privately thanking Haku for his small role in his favorite student's life. "If it wasn't for you showing me your eyes, I would be hard pressed to believe everything."

"Yeah, well, I've been trying to keep it a secret," pouted Naruto; he wanted so much to show it off to everyone in the village, but he could see why Kakashi would want to keep it a secret. "Hey, do you think I could please copy your Limit."

Iruka looked at the grinning sun kissed boy and shook his head, making the smirk become an angry pout. To fit the picture, Naruto crossed his arms with his eye twitching in annoyance. If there were any girls nearby, they might have thought it was kind of cute, almost like a pissed-off teddy bear.

"Sorry, Naruto, but I doubt that the people nearby would feel grateful about experiencing a blackout," explained his teacher, causing Naruto to give his attention back to the older person. "Much like Haku, my parents were survivors of the blood cleansings that went on in Kiri. It was out of luck that my parents were visiting some old friends when it began. At the time, I was very young, maybe around two or three. So, because of that, I ended up living here in Konoha."

"You were just like Haku?" Naruto asked with genuine curiosity.

Iruka nodded his head before he continued. "I was."

"What does your Limit do?"

"Well," began the scarred teacher, "it's known as _Hyakurai _(One Thousand Thunderclaps). My Bloodline Limit allows me to control my bioelectricity and make it strong enough that I could get struck by lightning without any harmful side affects. This makes me a master of lightning jutsu to a degree that I could do some of the most powerful moves with a single hand seal. Also, I think much faster and have faster reflexes. Have you ever wondered why I caught all those erasers and buckets full of water?"

"That does explain it…" thought Naruto while putting a finger to his chin.

True to what Iruka said, pranks involving attempts to hit the man with something like erasers always ended in failure. Not to mention those couple of times that Naruto lost his temper and tried to throw blunted kunai to his teacher's head, only for the man to catch them with his fingertips without taking his face away from the blackboard.

"Also, I can sense bioelectricity, allowing me to track people down because of how each signature is unique from person to person," he continued to explain with a smile.

"That's why you always found me when I pulled a prank!" yelled Naruto while pointing his finger at his teacher accusingly, only to have the man laugh.

"Yeah, well, there were a couple of times that I let you escape, mainly because I didn't want to follow you into the sewers."

If it someone had an egg on them, they would have been able to cook it on top of Naruto's simmering head. His teacher could have tracked him every time, but only let him get away those few lucky times just because he got desperate enough to crawl in the sewers. The outrage of it all!

"Now as fancy as those abilities are, they're not the main ones," this immediately brought the blond out of his simmering attitude as he watched Iruka with his eyes glued to the man. "Allow me to demonstrate the most powerful ability of _Hyakurai_."

Iruka walked over to a nearby outlet and put his finger close to it, causing all of the lights inside the house to flicker on and off. When he walked back to Naruto, he did another demonstration by putting his fingers close together, caushing a small arc of electricity to dance in between them.

"As you can see, I control _real_ lightning, not that fake chakra lightning you see many ninja use."

"What's the difference?" asked Naruto, still wide eyed from the demonstrations.

"There are a lot of them, but unfortunately, it's getting too late for me to explain, and you need to head to bed." The blond tried to protest, but Iruka cut him off before he could. "Come on; you still need to train anyways. Tomorrow when we are away from civilization, I'll let you copy it, mainly because we don't need the electrical grid to crash on us. It's happened to me before, and it was quite embarrassing when they finally traced it back to me."

"Fine," said the blond, crossing his arms and leaving for his apartment.

Iruka just shook his head as he closed the door.

* * *

Sarutobi sat there behind his desk stroking his beard in deep thought. Kakashi sat across from him, remaining quiet and waiting for what his commander had to say.

"For starters," the aged man finally began. "It seems we have another Limit on our hands. But its how Sakura got this Bloodline Limit that worries me."

"It must've had something to do with the _Kyoukagan_," said Kakashi, stating his theory. "You saw the blood test results, and if you remember correctly from my debriefing about our mission, Sakura managed to come into contact with Naruto's blood."

Sarutobi sat there quietly for a second, trying to think of how this was possible. He did have a thought, though, of why, and if so, then Naruto was in a lot more trouble than he was now, and that was saying something about his already valuable _Kyoukagan_.

"I think we have found the counterpart to the _Rin'negan_." Kakashi cocked his head as he listened. "What we are looking at here is one of the three great doujutsu, the one that created Bloodline Limits. Just as the _Rin'negan_ brought about Ninjutsu, we're looking at the very source of every Bloodline Limit in existence."

"But that means we have to keep people away from Naruto's blood," thought the copy-cat out loud. "Otherwise, a good deal of Limits would appear out of nowhere. That's attention we don't need."

"We should also be thankful that Sakura didn't come into contact with something else," Sarutobi spoke with worry.

"What would that be?"

"If it was dangerous enough for her to have medical attention after just coming into contact with Naruto's blood," explained the aged man, "imagine what would have happened if she came into contact with it while he was using the Kyuubi's chakra."

Kakashi leaned back in his chair as he thought about it. The fox's chakra was dangerous, but if it came into contact with somebody through this blood-transfer thing, the person could easily die in a matter of minutes in a very agonizing death. In a way, it was a safeguard for Naruto's blood should anyone somehow come into contact with it. It seemed the fox didn't like to share this Limit with anyone else.

"So, what do we do?" the masked man asked.

Sarutobi once again began to stroke his beard. "For the moment, we keep our mouths shut. Amenity is important right now, and as long as nobody finds out we should be fine. You will make sure this Limit stays secret."

The Hatake nodded as he understood what the orders were. Right now, everything just needed to be kept quiet.

"Now, I do believe that it is near midnight, and you have yet to rest from you mission. Tomorrow, bring Naruto into my office so that we can talk to him, but we're going to keep this little bit of information about the _Kyoukagan_ secret."

Kakashi nodded and quietly left to his home to get some rest before he had to meet up with his team.

Kill Joy no Jutsu (A.K.A. Author's Note): Okay, sorry this chapter came a little later than you all were expecting. Holidays are a busy time for me, especially when my birthday is coming up as well. If you don't know, I'm now allowing anonymous reviews for all of my stories, just don't abuse it.

Well for starters, Sakura is not getting Kyoukagan, and why the hell would you all think I would do that? She's got an elemental Limit, and it's not Mokuton or Hyouton. I also know that a good deal of you don't like her, but her attitude towards everyone will be changing, at least into someone that I could live with.

As for Iruka getting a role in this story… well, I felt bad not giving him a role in The Jinchuuriki Nine and it has been haunting me. So I have given him a role. I will further explain his Limit next chapter, but until then, just sit back and watch.

Now, there has been a serious push for people asking me to translate my jutsu. The reason why I don't do it is because it can be a serious hassle and make things much harder on me, especially when the translator I use isn't the best on the web. I end up having to some of the translating myself sometimes, and I'm here to say that I suck at Japanese.

And that's all I got for the moment.

Again, I won't explain Iruka's Limit until next chapter when Naruto begins to train with it.


	6. A Cursed Miracle

**Chapter 6- A Cursed Miracle**

_Yesterday_

Mizuki busted out of prison in record time and was now leaping across the rooftops to get to his house for his weapons. He expected it to take at least several more months to get out, but it seemed Lady Luck had been on his side. The guards had been busy with other things while he snuck a couple tools. There was nothing as beautiful as a plan coming together.

Things were looking up, but he had one business matter to attend to before he ran to his master, Orochimaru: his revenge. He owed that little demon and Iruka a lot for throwing him into prison. Tomorrow, he was going to be sure to send both of them to Hell.

The Chunin quickly stepped up his stealth skills as he got closer to the Hokage tower. It was sad he had to get past the place in order to hit his home. At the time, it was the only place he could afford to buy.

He was now crawling under a particular window that was opened to the Hokage's personal office, a place of suicide for any normal sneaks. Mizuki was just about to get away, but stopped to listen in on a conversation when he heard the infamous Hatake Kakashi and the Sandaime having a conversation.

"…I think we have found the counterpart of the _Rin'negan_," Mizuki overheard them talking.

He never heard of this _Rin'negan_ before. It sounded like they were talking about a Bloodline Limit of some kind. Deciding he was curious enough to stay and listen to what was being talked about, he sunk deeper into the shadows.

"…What we are looking at here is one of the three great Doujutsu, the one that created Bloodline Limits. Just as the _Rin'negan_ brought about Ninjutsu, we're looking at the very source of every Bloodline Limit in existence."

The moment Mizuki heard that, his eyes widened in shock. Naruto had gained a Bloodline Limit of some kind, one that could grant people brand new Limits? If that was true then he could get his own! Forget that formula that Orochimaru had given him! He could get a Limit, and all he had to do is come into contact with the blond gaki's blood!

He smirked as he listened in some more, "…But that means we have to keep people away from Naruto's blood. Otherwise, a good deal of Limits would be appearing out of nowhere."

It was too good to be true. He could get his revenge and get a new Limit of his own in one shot. Two birds with one stone.

With an insane smile, he leapt off the building to go and plan. His day had only gotten better with this little tidbit of info.

Unfortunately for him, things really were too good to be true. If he had stayed a little longer, he would have heard a very important piece of information.

"... We should be thankful that Sakura didn't come into contact with anything else."

* * *

Mitarashi Anko had just walked out of the front door of the Hokage tower to head home for a nice dinner of her favorite food: dango. It was a nice day making men scream like little girls with some summoned poisonous snakes back at the office she shared with Ibiki.

Her smile was wiped off her face as she sensed someone nearby. Looking up towards an open window that led to the Hokage's office with a keen eye, she could make out the shadow of a figure next to the window. Because it was dark, she couldn't make out anything unique about the perpetrator quite yet, but she could tell when there was someone spying.

Before she could react and get some ANBU to handle the idiot, she saw the shadow leap away into the moonlight, revealing the smiling face of Mizuki. It was only for a split second though as he landed in the shadows of the nearby buildings and silently moved away.

The snake user scowled in annoyance. Mizuki had the misfortune to get stuck with her for interrogation. It wasn't a well known fact that she really liked Iruka, and unfortunately for the silver-haired Chunin that tried to kill said teacher, she took out her frustrations on the traitor with more than the usual glee.

Deciding to do her village a favor, she followed the piece of scum and began to keep tabs on him for the night.

Current Time

If anybody saw Ino now, they would think it strange that she wasn't being her usual bossy self, shouting orders, or yelling at something. As a matter of fact, she looked downright depressed. That was her mood as she walked down the white halls of the hospital, carrying a large bouquet of flowers for her rival.

Sasuke had come to her last night requesting she drop off some flowers at the Konoha hospital. Of course, she was shocked when she discovered they were going to Forehead Girl. Did that mean the pink-haired girl won out? That question alone put her deeper into depression.

She finally got to the doorway leading into her former best friend's room, but Ino's hand hesitated as she went to open the door. With a sigh, she grasped the knob and walked into the room.

Sakura lay on her bed sleeping peacefully with the occasional beep of a machine she was hooked up to. The platinum blond couldn't help but wonder what had put the girl here into the first place. Altogether, she looked unharmed.

Out of her curiosity, she used her free hand to grab the file at the end of the bed. Ino furrowed her eyebrows, finding the file bereft of any information on Sakura. That was strange; doctors always kept important info on their patients. She shrugged as she put it back.

Ino sat the flowers on a nearby table and stared at Sakura for a number seconds, each passing by like a turtle on morphine. Everything had gone Sakura's way, and it was all because she got lucky and landed a spot on Sasuke's team. Everything just seemed so unfair. Sakura had won. What more was there to it?

"I… I guess you win, Forehead," she quietly told the unconscious girl.

Where was she going to go from here? Sasuke was her driving point to get stronger, just so she could impress him… but where did that take her? She knew she needed to get stronger, but for what reason?

She sighed before she closed the door, making sure it didn't make any noise on her way out. Ino needed to think.

* * *

A half hour later, Sakura's bright green eyes slowly blinked open. She was confused to find her surroundings to be completely different from what she fell asleep to. After blinking her eyes clean, she was startled to find herself in a clean room found only in hospitals.

The Kunoichi lied there, recalling how she ended up in this mess. The last thing she remembered was getting sick at the Land of Waves. Oh, now she remembered; she had been coughing up blood that night along with other pleasant symptoms. She wondered whether she was in Konoha or Wave, having been in a state of coma during the trip back.

She turned her head to look around her room, only for her eyes to widen in surprise as her sight came across a large bouquet of flowers. Sakura looked over the gift trying to find out who gave it to her. To her confusion, the flowers were an anonymous gift.

"Ah, nice to see you awake!" Sakura looked towards the doorway to see the ever so lazy Kakashi staring at her. "You had us worried there. Had I waited another half hour to get you back to Konoha, you would've died."

She wanted to ask about the details of the trip back, but then felt how dry and scratchy her throat was. That wasn't mentioning the metallic taste in the back of her mouth –probably from the blood she coughed up. The scarecrow noted his student's desire to talk and walked over to get her a cup of water.

After she had sipped down some water, she let the questions fly. "When did we get back?"

The silver-haired jounin shrugged his shoulders. "I wasn't keeping track. It was probably about five in the evening, or around that time, when we got back."

"Do they know what's wrong with me?" she asked in a soft whisper –her throat still felt sore.

That's where the copy-cat hit a dilemma. The Sandaime made it very clear that everything was to remain quiet. Besides, how would his student react to suddenly getting a first-generation Bloodline Limit?

"Well, the doctors said it was some sort of allergic reaction to something," he lied, remembering how the nurse had described the symptoms. "They didn't know what caused it, even after thoroughly testing you, but they eventually stabilized you. I do have a test of my own I would like to conduct, though."

Sakura looked on with confusion as her teacher pulled out a blank, white card. He handed it to her before he explained.

"Just channel some of your chakra into the card," he explained, answering her unasked question.

The pink-haired girl did as she was told and watched the card crumble to the floor below. What happened next caused Kakashi to raise an eyebrow and for Sakura to start panicking: the dust caught on fire. Without any hint of pandemonium, he walked over to the sink with a cup and came back to pour water on the tiny flames.

Before she could say she was sorry, Kakashi cleared his throat. "Well, that was… interesting. I got what I needed, so now I will be heading to the team's usual spot. I think I'm late enough to earn a couple choice words from Naruto."

She laughed lightly as he walked out of the room. Despite her light mood, Sakura couldn't help but wonder what the test had to do with.

* * *

Naruto and Sasuke were waiting on the bridge the team usually met on. Kakashi was being his normally tardy self and Sakura was absent –she had an excuse for her absence, though.

Sasuke would occasionally sneak a glance at Naruto, who was staring off into space. He was still sore about not getting the goggles off the blond's face, and even now he stared holes into his teammate's eyes, trying to figure out what was different with them.

If the maelstrom did have a Doujutsu, then why didn't he show it off like they expected him to?

There was another thing that caught Sasuke by surprise: Naruto wasn't complaining about their sensei being late as per usual. The blond was just sitting there and thinking, something that shouldn't be humanly possible either. Ever since the Wave mission, he was acting weird for no apparent reason.

It was while he was pondering about his teammate's unusual behavior that Kakashi had shown up in a poof of smoke.

"Sorry about being late. You see, there was this old lady…" he thought he could try something new today rather than his usual black cat one.

"Riiiiiight," Naruto drawled, wearing a foxy smile.

Sasuke just gave him a death glare, wishing that the man would spontaneously catch on fire for his tardiness.

Kakashi just smiled beneath his mask. It was obvious Naruto remembered their talk back at the Land of Waves; otherwise, he would've gotten yelled at like normal. He would admit that it was nice to have someone understand why you act the way you do –it was… refreshing.

"I came by to tell you guys that I'm giving you the day off," the wiry man said, smirking behind his mask.

The Uchiha's temper went through the roof. They had just wasted three hours of waiting for their teacher, only for the said man to give them the day off! Why the hell did they have to get stuck with this person when they could have gotten any other sensei in the Fire Country?!

Naruto on the other hand had a smile that threatened to split his face into two. That meant he would have time to train with Iruka-sensei… and to learn his Bloodline Limit. It was going to be so cool to learn the _Hyakurai_ –he was giddy in excitement just thinking about it.

"That being said," continued the jounin, "Naruto, you and me have a meeting with the Hokage at around three. Oh, and Sakura is now doing well, just to let you guys know."

The blond knucklehead sighed in relief knowing that his teammate was okay while Sasuke just shrugged. At least she was going to be alright.

Kakashi then disappeared in a puff of smoke and left his students to their own devices.

* * *

Anko carefully followed Mizuki everywhere he went, all the while making sure that she didn't mess up and give away her position. It hadn't been as easy as it first sounded. Mizuki was one paranoid bastard, and it showed with how often he looked over his shoulder –then again, it wasn't paranoia if someone was after you. It was only by luck she was still tailing him without being caught.

Despite all this, and her following him, his motives were still unclear. It wasn't until they got into a particular neighborhood that things became clear.

Mizuki stopped on a particular roof that was over-looking a non-descript apartment complex. Shortly after they arrived, the blond bane of Konoha walked in front of one of the doors and knocked, revealing Iruka as he came to the door.

She narrowed her eyes as she realized what Mizuki's goals involved: revenge against the ones that threw him in prison.

* * *

Iruka was leaning on the door way with his arms crossed, raising an eyebrow as he stared at the blond. His favorite student stood in front of him grinning from ear to ear, ready to learn about his sensei's Limit.

"So, I guess you want me to teach you how to use _Hyakurai_, huh?" asked Iruka.

"Why else would I be here?" said Naruto, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

"Maybe to say hi to your favorite teacher?"

"There's that too… but please let me learn it!" begged Naruto.

The Kage-class Chunin just sighed in defeat. He doubted the blond would leave him alone until he did anyways. Then again, the thought of being able to teach someone else outside of his own person how to use his Limit was quite appealing. Knowing the hyperactive boy, he would have no problem keeping this secret, speaking that he did have his own Limit.

"Alright," Naruto leapt into the air with a shout, but calmed down as his teacher continued, "but there are some rules. One: don't tell anybody about this. I don't like attention and the village would definitely set their eyes on me if they found out. Two: don't train your _Hyakurai_ by yourself. If the city has a power outage, I'm not going to cover for you."

The blond bobbed his head up and down like a parakeet as he listened to everything. This Limit had to be good if Iruka-sensei wanted to him to train with supervision.

"Don't worry, Iruka-sensei!" assured Naruto. "I have to keep the _Kyoukagan_ secret anyways."

"Now that that has been settled…" muttered Iruka, clapping his hands together, "We're going to go and train at my favorite spot. So, follow me while I explain some things to you."

Both of them slowly began to walk towards the training grounds, all the while Iruka gave Naruto some lessons on his Bloodline Limit.

"Okay," he began as they walked next to each other. "_Hyakurai_ is unique because it allows me control of real lightning because of my higher than normal bioelectricity. Other minor abilities that it has are my bioelectricity-sensing capabilities and my improved senses and reflexes."

Naruto looked around as he walked along and noticed the people giving him loathing stares as he passed by. Deciding that he didn't want to think about the villagers, he turned back to Iruka with a question he had since last night.

"Didn't you say something about the difference between real lightning and chakra lightning last night?" questioned Naruto.

"Ah, yes. There is some major differences," his teacher continued to explain. "Chakra based lightning works by homing in on chakra sources in its more uncontrolled form. Real lightning strikes things indifferently and with a _much_ stronger charge. It's also much more difficult to control."

"What does that mean?"

"Well," Iruka scratched the back of his head as he tried to figure out how to give an example. "Let me put it this way: a single chakra lightning bolt would strike only one of two kunai that were stuck into the ground, and would always hit one if it was to be loaded with chakra. But if a natural bolt is used, it would strike that kunai and maybe the other as well because it reacts indifferently."

"Now if I wanted to use jutsu that involved lightning," the pineapple-haired Chunin continued on, "I could use my bioelectricity to do it, but it would be much harder to control, speaking that chakra really works like an extension of the body, while lightning is a pure form of energy."

Naruto could now feel as if his head was going to blow up like a bomb at the information he was taking in. No wonder he didn't pay attention in class back when he was back at the academy; it would give him a headache every time he looked at the blackboard!

The blond stopped rubbing his head as they both finally got to the training grounds. Iruka walked across from him and began to study his student under a microscope, trying to figure out how the _Kyoukagan_ worked. The mirror-like pupils Naruto showed him last night were just too complicated to be a Doujutsu of some kind, but he kept his thoughts to himself as he continued to look onward.

"How do you copy Limits?" he finally asked.

"Um, I just look at you," answered the blond.

Naruto pulled off his goggles and began to stare at his teacher, willing his eyes to copy the Limit. His eyes quickly shattered and began to copy down the _Hyakurai_ to add to his small arsenal. After a couple seconds, he gave a thumb-up to his teacher, signifying that he copied it.

"Alright, before you begin to use it, I want to demonstrate something," he said with a smile. "Make a couple of clones and have them come at me."

His student just put on his foxy smile before he made his favorite hand seal. With a large puff of smoke, a dozen clones appeared around the original. All of them charged with a battle cry, but the real Naruto stayed back with a confused look as he saw Iruka still wearing his own smile.

It was when the small troop of blonds touched Iruka that it happened. The only way Naruto could describe it was like a squirrel being stupid enough to not just touch a bug zapper, but to _bite_ it.

Half of the blonds unlucky enough to hold on and not let go began to smoke as static electricity shot through and away from their hair like the _Raikiri_ that Kakashi demonstrated on the bridge. The lucky half of the group launched into the air. When they landed, their hair was smoking and sticking straight up while smoke poured out of their ears. All of them finally disappeared, leaving a gawking Naruto with memories of what it was like to grab a bug zapper.

His teacher just snickered a bit before he explained. "What you just witnessed was me letting go of only a portion of my control over my bioelectricity. I constantly have to suppress it or otherwise, well… you saw what happened at my apartment last night."

He could now understand why Iruka was a little hesitant to let him copy _Hyakurai_. It required a lot of control to get the full effect the Bloodline offered. Otherwise, a lot of people would be pissed off about having a blown up power grid. If anything, it made Naruto want to learn it more if it required such control.

"Now…" His attention returned to his former teacher. "I want you to access the _Hyakurai_ however way you do, and I want you to get a feel for it. You'll see a difference when you begin using it."

Naruto complied and willed for his body to change, making his eyes become the same color as Iruka's.

Iruka was right; Naruto could see, feel, and hear a difference. All of his senses took a dramatic spike, and everything just seemed to slow down. Then his teacher came up next to him and tried to lightly punch him in the face. Out of instinct, he blocked the attack as it came within a foot of his face.

"As you can see," Iruka's voice was now slower as well, "you brain is processing things much faster than normal, and your reflexes took a leap as well. This is all natural, but if you want everything to go back to normal, you must suppress your own bioelectricity."

"How do you do that?" Naruto asked.

Iruka continued to explain in a slow voice: "Well, first off, you need to try and calm down and when you try to suppress it, it becomes a matter of trying to stay relaxed. Then when you do, you have to stay that way or otherwise it will automatically go crazy again. Oh, and until you get it under control, we're not going back to Konoha."

"WHAT! That could take forever!" yelled Naruto.

It was almost noon and he doubted he could go without his favorite meal of ramen again –it was almost as if Fate itself was against him having his favorite meal. Last night, he fainted when he discovered that his big brother-like role model had a Limit and never got to have a bowl. Because of that, he was hoping to get one today.

"Yes, well, then you could pay all of the electrical damages, because I don't have that much money," countered Iruka with a smirk.

The blond gave in with a growl and a pout and sat cross legged on the ground to begin to try to relax. Iruka sat across from him, keeping an eye on his student so that he wouldn't take off. Not that he could get away in the first place; he did put a good deal of hunter-nin to shame in tracking.

He lost his usual friendly smile as he felt the bioelectricity of two other people nearby. Iruka didn't show it, but he was weary of their presences.

* * *

Mizuki was madder than hell when he heard everything the teacher said. The scarred bastard could have beaten him that night! Iruka must've pretended being weak that night; that's the only way Mizuki could've beaten Iruka.

The silver-haired Chunin now felt nervous about trying to get revenge on his targets. His former comrade had a powerful Bloodline Limit. There had to be a weakness, though. Iruka was a walking, talking power generator and a master of lightning jutsu, if what he said was true. If that was the case…

He smiled as he figured out a way around the electricity-generating Bloodline Limit.

In the shadows behind the unsuspecting man, Anko felt her eyebrows go past her hairline. Iruka couldn't seriously have that much power! The Iruka she knew was friendly and wasn't as obsessed with gaining power, but here he stood with at least kage class skills.

She blinked her eyes rapidly as she tried to process the information.

* * *

"…That's what happened when she put her chakra into the card," Kakashi finished explaining to his commander.

"_Kinzokuton_," muttered the Sandaime under his breath as he tried to think.

"Huh? Could you say that again?" asked the copy-cat.

"Her Limit is called _Kinzokuton_," explained Sarutobi. "It's an Elemental Limit that grants the user the ability to create the bi-element, metal. Much like Naruto when he uses _Hyouton_, she can manipulate earth to a degree. Could you tell me how this is possible?"

"I'm afraid I don't know much about Elemental Bloodline Limits," the scarecrow answered honestly.

The aged man lightly laughed. "I thought you would have learned a couple things when you and Tenzo worked together. After all, he is a _Mokuton_ user. Let me explain it to you." The Sandaime leaned his elbows against his desk as he went into his 'professor' mode. "All elemental Limits have a dominant element. For instance, water is the dominant element in _Hyouton_, and thus, Naruto is able to manipulate it. It's when they shove the secondary element into the other chakra that they create the bi-element."

"If this is the case," continued the old timer, "the first element that appears on a chakra element card is the dominant element. Test it on Naruto and you would see this. As I said before, Sakura can manipulate earth to a degree. Amazing are these Limits, aren't they?"

"Yes, they are. I never knew there was so much science behind them," agreed the former ANBU captain with a hint of awe in his voice.

Everyday he hung around with Naruto, his _Byaku Chakra_ just seemed to be getting simpler and simpler compared to these other Limits. The _Kyoukagan_ alone had so much behind it that it could easily outdo anything in complication alone.

The elder ninja leaned back in his chair as he pondered about the recent happenings. He still needed more info on the _Kyoukagan_, but there wasn't going to be anything like that here in Konoha. This Limit was nothing ever heard of in the five great shinobi nations, not like the _Rin'negan_ which was the key to founding the ninja world and the basis of many legends that existed.

He also thought about Naruto's parents. Minato had never shown such a trait; neither had Kushina, but then again, the two were really secretive about everything they did.

One of them had to carry the gene, but he doubted it was the former Yondaime, speaking he knew the Namikaze personally. The tomboyish Kushina was another story altogether. He knew about as much about her lineage as he knew how many stars were in the sky. If there was any information to discover, it would be from her side of the family.

"Kakashi," the said man looked up from his ponderings as he heard the Sandaime's voice. "I have a mission for you, but you need to finish it before the Chunin exams."

"What is it?" he asked with curiosity.

It had been a while since he had taken a mission without his students involved. It would be quite refreshing, but what kind of mission could this be? Obviously, it had something to do with the _Kyoukagan_.

"It's an S-class solo mission," said the Sandaime, explaining the perimeters of the job. "I would have you take a squad, but information about _Kyoukagan_ is simply too sensitive. You are to go to the debunked country of Whirlpool and find whatever information you can on our mystery Doujutsu. There is no information on this Limit in any of the great nations, but this place quite possibly might be the birth place of the _Kyoukagan_ users."

The Sandaime was thankful that Kakashi had no idea what Kushina's maiden name was, otherwise the secret would be out to one more person. But he could trust Kakashi with his life and that was why he was sending him on this particular mission.

"Who will be my substitute for my students while I'm gone?" the wiry man asked, remembering his job as a teacher.

"Why, Tenzo of course!" answered Sarutobi with a smile. "He could easily train Sakura and Naruto. Of course, our little mirror flower might want to copy _Mokuton_ the first chance he could. So, who are to prevent him from doing so? We might as well, speaking he already has some skill in _Hyouton_. The other reason I'm doing this is because Tenzo would keep the _Kyoukagan_ secret without a hitch. Don't worry; your team will be in good hands."

"I believe you," said Kakashi with a smile behind his mask.

Indeed, he too trusted Tenzo, having worked with him on a number occasions while he was an ANBU captain. The _Mokuton_ user had even saved his life several times if he remembered correctly. They also happened to be drinking buddies too.

"When do I leave?" asked the copy-cat.

"Tomorrow. Until then, I believe we should go and get Naruto so we can explain what we've been able to study about his Limit."

* * *

It happened faster than the blink of an eye. Naruto could feel himself get thrown to the side by Iruka as a jet of water entered the clearing from the bushes, soaking his teacher.

"Naruto, change into another Limit NOW!" the scarred man ordered.

The blond quickly did as told as the water then started coming his way. Just as it hit, the water froze as Naruto quickly shoved wind element chakra into it. Both of them of then turned to the point of origin of the attack to see a laughing Mizuki step out of the bushes.

"That's the first time I've ever seen an elemental Limit before," he said with a victorious smile.

"Mizuki-Teme!" shouted Naruto.

Iruka on the other hand remained calm as he stood up. He was now sopping wet, much to his chagrin.

"Mizuki, it seems that you managed to escape from prison." Naruto thought it was weird how his teacher could keep so cool. "What brings you here?"

The silver-haired ninja chuckled lightly before he answered: "I'm here on business. I hear that the demon had a Limit and I'm here to steal something from him."

The maelstrom took a step back as he heard what his former teacher told him. How the hell did he find out about it!? Kakashi-sensei said he would keep it secret! Just how many people knew about his Limit!?

Anko had been ready to jump in at a moment's notice, and was just about to do that, but refrained herself from doing said action when she heard that the bane of Konoha, the most hated person to walk the streets of the village, had something many ninja considered valuable.

"How did you know about that?" questioned Naruto in shock.

"I overheard a very enlightening conversation," explained Mizuki. "But there was one little piece of information that just made my day: I heard that your blood can give anybody a Limit if they could get their hands on it. That's what I'm going to do now!"

The blond felt his eyes widen. He didn't know that the _Kyoukagan_ could do that! Where the hell did this guy get his information?

In the bushes, Anko also felt her eyes widen as she too heard Mizuki's outrageous claim. This had to be some crazy made up story, and Mizuki was stupid to believe it. There was no Limit capable of creating other Limits; it was simply impossible… right? She again felt compelled to stay where she was, milking the situation for maximum info.

"There is no way I'm going to let you have my blood, bastard!" yelled Naruto defiantly.

"We'll see about that, demon."

Naruto readied himself to retreat as Mizuki pulled off one of fuuma shuriken and began to spin it like a buzz saw. The blond tripped backwards as he tried to get away, but as the criminal got to his target, he was abruptly stopped by Iruka and the kunai he was holding.

The silver-haired ninja haughtily laughed once more. "Don't even bother. I know your Limit's weakness. Just like a power generator, if it gets wet, it would short and get destroyed. Am I right?"

Iruka gave a mighty shove with his knife that pushed his opponent off of him, momentarily silencing the arrogant traitor.

Naruto looked towards his teacher with evident worry. If his teacher kept his _Hyakurai_ on, then he would've gotten screwed over royally. That's why he wanted him to change Limits; if he got wet with it on, there was no telling what would happen.

"You're right," said Iruka with a grim look. "If I had left my Limit on, I would've been knocked unconscious from electrocution, but unlike Naruto, I can suppress it."

"I know. I overheard everything you two talked about, but without your strongest ability, you're just an average Chunin," said Mizuki as he smirked in victory.

True to what Mizuki said, Iruka's jutsu options had been severely limited. If he did activate _Hyakurai _even on accident, he would quickly get electrocuted by his own electricity. He grimaced as he realized just how strategic the traitorous bastard could be when he wanted to.

The scarred Chunin was just about to go through a set hand seals, but stopped as the sound of hissing filled the clearing. Mizuki looked down as he felt something coiling around his leg and gawked in horror as a set of vipers grasped his legs. All of them barred their fangs to discourage movement.

Another much larger viper began to coil around his neck, and much to his fear it had even larger fangs.

"Don't move," said a sadistic voice from behind him that he recognized as one Mitarashi Anko. "The smaller ones are pit vipers while the big one I'm holding is a fer-de-lance. One bite would lead to a slow and agonizing death."

Naruto had never been so happy in his life to see such a sadistic ninja coming to his rescue.

Iruka on the other hand recognized her almost instantly. "Mitarashi Anko. Huh, I've never been so relieved to see you."

"Yeah, well, I happened to be the neighborhood." Her smirk turned deadly as her attention went to the sweating Mizuki. "So, are you going to come quietly or am I going to have to drag you while you scream?"

Much to everyone's surprise, he smirked. "Two things: One: I've known you been following me since last night. Two: do you think I wouldn't have thought ahead?"

As soon as the last word left his mouth, he was replaced with a log with a puff of smoke. Before Anko could react, a shuriken had lodged itself into her shoulder, but as she pulled it out and turned to retaliate, she fell to the ground while her summons disappeared with multiple puffs.

"Shit… it's… poisoned," she said with a murderous glare aimed at the Chunin in the tree above.

"I coated that shuriken with a paralyzing toxin _just_ for you," Mizuki said triumphantly. "You won't be able to move for a while, but don't worry, I'll deal with you soon enough. First things first; I've got business to attend to."

"_Fire Release: Immortal Phoenix Flame!"_

The silver haired criminal jumped away in time as five fast moving fireballs came his way, making the branch he was on explode. He jumped across from Iruka and charged forward with his fuuma shuriken spinning, but was stopped once more by another kunai his target was holding.

"Did you really think that I wouldn't take my weaknesses into consideration?" asked the scarred man. "I took the time to learn other moves outside of lightning jutsu, and it seems I was smart to do so."

Both of them jumped out of the way as a cold wind came from their side. Mizuki turned his attention back on Naruto, remembering his other purpose for his visit.

The blond wasn't going to go down easy, though, as he made several clones appear and ordered them to attack. Mizuki stopped his charge as he began to slash through the clones like a hot knife through butter, but just as he cut the last one, Iruka finished another set of hand seals.

"_Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"_

Iruka's target leapt out of the way as a powerful gust of wind smashed the area where he stood. While he was in the air, he threw his first fuuma shuriken towards the other Chunin, but the attack was met by a glowing, white kunai that sliced through it.

The two combatants turned towards Naruto to see that he had changed his Limit again, having been given the seven seconds necessary to change into _Byaku Chakra_. Naruto charged another kunai and sent the bullet fast weapon towards his traitorous teacher, but as the weapon made a hit, he was replaced with a log that splintered from the impact.

Before Iruka could react, Mizuki jumped out of the ground from behind him and, with his other spinning fuuma shuriken in hand, cut his target across the back. The scarred man fell forward, his back bleeding profusely.

"IRUKA!" yelled Anko from her position on the ground, upset that she couldn't help in any way.

Naruto just stared in shock.

It was happening again, except this time his teacher was about to die. He had to do something… but what? How was he going to reach him in time?

Then, he felt it again, the nightmarish chakra that infested him like a virus back on the bridge, the chakra that almost cost him someone he could call 'friend'. This time, though, he welcomed it. Mizuki was threatening a precious person; he had to be punished for his crimes.

The silver-haired traitor smiled maliciously as he was about to stab Iruka and finally gain half of his revenge, but stopped as something foul swept over the area. Everyone turned to look at the source, only to see a flame like chakra engulf the blond maelstrom.

Naruto began to change; his nails became claws as his birthmarks defined even more. His hair became messier while his canines became fangs. He looked as if he was seeing red as he stared at the shocked Mizuki.

His dark eyes, the mark of a _Byaku Chakra_ user, shattered and the crimson, spinning tomoa of a _Sharingan_ instantly appeared in his eyes as the mirror shards fell away, the demonic chakra removing the single major weakness of the _Kyoukagan_ altogether. The goggles slipped off and were hanging around his neck, revealing his beautiful eyes for all to see.

Just as Mizuki was about to fight back, Naruto roared, unleashing a concussive wave that pushed the Chunin across the field. Iruka and Anko were spared as they were lying protectively against the ground.

The blond appeared above Mizuki and began to batter against him with sledgehammer punches. His target tried to fight back, but Naruto's _Sharingan_ read everything like an open book, allowing him to counter and smash at Mizuki.

The traitor wondered if he was going to get out of this alive.

He thankfully found a way out the mess he was in as he pulled out a kunai and threw it towards the slowly standing Iruka. Naruto seemed to regain his humanity as he watched the weapon in shock, but his teacher caught the weapon coming towards him without any strain.

The demon powered boy sighed in relief, but Mizuki took advantage of the distraction to give a small cut across the boy's arm. Naruto quickly jumped backwards while holding the cut, despite it healing almost instantly, but it was enough as the kunai the traitor held was now bloody at the tip.

"Now I will have a Bloodline Limit of my own, and when I do, I'LL CRUSH YOU ALL!" roared Mizuki with an insane smile.

It was at that moment that the Hokage and Kakashi dashed into the training area at full speed, trying to stop Mizuki before he allowed the blood to enter his body.

"Mizuki! DON'T DO IT!" yelled Kakashi frantically.

Either way, it was too late as Mizuki stabbed himself in his arm. The wide eyed scarecrow and the Sandaime skidded to the stop, unable to prevent Mizuki from unknowingly committing suicide.

He laughed insanely, waiting to feel the effects of putting the _Kyoukagan_ user's blood into his body, but instead suddenly fell to his knees while gasping for air and holding onto his neck. A second later, he puked up blood onto the ground. Much to his horror as well as everyone else's that was playing witness, the blood began to smoke before it became black, poisoning the ground it touched.

His eyes widened in fear at what he saw… and that's when the worst of it began to happen. Mizuki screamed in pain as he felt his blood begin to boil, bursting every vain, artery, and capillary contained in his body.

Naruto looked on in horror as his demonic side receded. The _Sharingan_, no longer of use, disappeared making his _Kyoukagan_ shatter once more and leaving him with his normal crystal-blue eyes.

His eyes widened even more as he heard a dark laughter ringing through the back of his mind.

Kakashi and the Sandaime slowed to a trot with pity in their eyes as they watched Mizuki scream through the worst five minutes that he was going to ever experience. Iruka and Anko also looked on in unsung fear, wondering what was going on.

Mizuki could then feel more excruciating pain as his skin began to tear, leaving gouges all over his body and leaking blackened blood. He screamed even more as he felt his organs being liquefied from the black, poison-like blood.

Naruto took a step back as he watched in horror and disbelief that his blood had caused this. The way the man was dying… it was a fate that no one should be subjugated to. It was horrible to the point that no word could describe it.

Finally, Mizuki stopped screaming as he lifted his head to the sky with widened eyes. Slowly, blackened blood began to drip from his mouth, then from his ears and nose, and then ending when he began to cry the fowl liquid. With one final look towards the blond, he fell forwards, forever staring with fear-filled eyes, scared of his own death.

The blond began to breathe hard as he saw Mizuki's dead body lying there, seemingly staring back at him with lifeless eyes. As tears of frigid liquid silver began to fall from his eyes, a set of comforting arms wrapped themselves around him. He didn't even look at the man; just from the tender touch he could tell that it was Iruka.

The famous copy-cat shook his head as he came up next to the body, being careful not to step into the blackened blood that was rapidly poisoning everything it touched.

"Sakura, you were very lucky," Kakashi told himself.

Sarutobi stood next to him, looking at the fallen ninja with pity. "Kakashi, you have no idea how right you are."

Mizuki had just become victim to the most excruciating form of torture that the world could offer. The Kyuubi was truly the most sadistic son-of-a-bitch to walk the planet. Only such a mind could conjure up something so awful.

"Make sure to dispose of the body so that none of this could be made known," he said in a voice that spoke both volumes of wisdom and experience before he turned his attention to Iruka and Anko.

He walked up to Naruto while doing some hand seals and put his hand on the crying blond, making him fall asleep.

"I'm sorry, but right now he needs to rest," explained the Hokage. "What just happened was something he wasn't ready to see."

Iruka nodded with his own pity in his eyes. "I understand."

"Kakashi, when you are done, meet me at my office, but make sure that you pick up Anko on your way," ordered the Hokage as he and Iruka began to make their way to the Hokage tower, carrying a sleeping Naruto.

"Yeah, just make sure you don't do anything fishy, you one-eyed bastard," she threatened from the ground.

The silver-haired ninja just rolled his single eye and began to do his work.

* * *

A couple hours later, Iruka just stared in disbelief at the Sandaime while trying to digest what he just heard. Anko would have done the same, but unfortunately for her, she hung onto her seat like a limp noodle, the poison having not run its full course yet. Kakashi was leaning against the back wall, having already known all of the info shared. Naruto was on a futon, sleeping peacefully.

"Amazing," whispered Iruka. "No wonder it has to stay secret. If something like this got out…"

He was quickly interrupted by Anko, "…Then shit would hit the fan."

"Not the words I would use," said the Sandaime with his pipe smoking in his mouth, "but yes… that is what would happen. But today's events have told me something else: the Kyuubi doesn't like to share this gift with anybody."

"It makes me wonder why," muttered Kakashi sarcastically.

Sarutobi ignored him in favor of continuing his talk. "The more demonic chakra Naruto has in his blood, the worse those effects get. Sakura lived mainly because Naruto wasn't pulling on the Kyuubi's chakra at the time, but there was enough of it there to threaten her life."

"Damn, this just keeps getting better," noted Anko.

"Funny," said Iruka, something akin to worry crossing his face. "It's more ironic than anything. It seems more like a cursed miracle the more we look at it."

"That it is… That it is, Iruka," agreed the Hokage.

* * *

Naruto felt as if he landed in a cold puddle of water as he stood up, soaking wet. Last he remembered, he was looking at Mizuki's lifeless body and then the old man did some kind of jutsu to make him fall asleep.

He looked down at the knee-deep water, feeling awful that it was his blood that killed the man like that, but now he had to move forward. It wasn't good to dwell on the past, but now he knew not to let anyone get a hold of his blood in any way, shape, and form.

Looking around, he saw that he was in something that looked like a cross between a sewer with all the leaky pipes going in and out of the walls, and one of those funhouses full of broken mirrors. The water itself was silvery, but clear enough that it could be distinguished as some form of liquid.

He suddenly turned around as he felt a presence staring holes into the back of his head, but only found his reflection. It was hard to make out his image with it being so dark and the mirrors being broken. Still, that feeling of constantly being watched was nerve racking.

With nothing else to do, he walked down the hall towards a red glow.

Behind him, a set of stormy eyes watched his every movement from inside the mirrors.

The place just seemed like a maze; he felt like he was going nowhere and fast. The only sign that he was making progress was the steadily growing red light. Finally, much to his relief, he entered the antechamber the glow was originating from.

His eyes widened as he caught sight of the massive gate. Intricate seals lined the pillar-like bars, and a single piece of paper that had the kanji for 'seal' on it was holding the huge gateway shut.

Out of the darkness of the gates, a pair of human-sized ruby eyes stared at him, making him shift uncomfortably as he stood under their gaze. Slowly, they walked towards him and the person the eyes belonged to began to enter the light. The water rippled underneath as set of feminine feet walked on the surface of the liquid, but as the body came into view, he could finally see who it was.

Much to Naruto's surprise, it was girl about his age, stopping as a clear barrier came up in front of her and preventing whatever advance she had planned. Her hair was blood red and her skin was milky pale. She wore a simple dress with no bells or whistles; she was also well endowed, despite the age she looked.

"It's about time you met me, fool," she said with enough malice to make the hair on Naruto's neck to stand on end.

"Who… Who are you and where am I?" he asked, highly weary of the girl in the cage.

She gave a smile that made the blond's skin crawl, revealing her longer than normal canines.

Looking at her, Naruto couldn't help but feel fear, despite her fragile appearance. There was just something about her that screamed for him to run for his life, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"We're inside your mind –or the seal if you wish to be specific. If you don't mind me asking, don't you recognize the nightmare that ruined your life?" she smiled with mirth as she waited for his recognition.

That's when it hit him about her identity. Contradictory to popular opinion, the Kyuubi was not the son-of-a-bitch as people assumed, but rather, she was a bitch altogether.

"You!" he growled past his clenched teeth.

She lightly laughed. "Yes. Me. Me. _Me_," her eyes briefly glowed crimson and became slitted as she said the last word, "the bitch that killed everyone that lovely night that you were born."

Naruto's eyes shattered, turning his vibrant blue eyes into broken mirrors, mimicking the environment around him. He wanted so much to jump in there and kill her. She was the root of every awful thing that happened to him!

Looking at her smile, he could also tell that was exactly what she wanted. Calming down, he made his eyes return to normal.

"Like what I had your blood do to Mizuki?" she asked with a sadistic smile.

"That was you?" he growled.

It only caused her smile to become even more sadistic, if that was possible. "Oh yes! It worked so beautifully. It's worse than any form of torture on the planet and it only gets better and better with the more of my chakra you use."

"Then I won't use it," the blond simply said.

She laughed again. "That's like saying you won't bleed. You don't fully grasp just how unique your Limit is."

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked with caution.

"It's a Transcendent Bloodline Limit," she explained with a smile, glad that she had got stuck with the container she did, "a Limit that only appears once every fifteen generations. The one you happened to get stuck with not only copies Limits, but can create new ones whenever someone comes into contact with your blood. But as you can see, I'm very selfish and don't like to share.

She grinned evilly. "If only your blood was more poisonous when you're not using my chakra… then maybe that sad excuse of a kunoichi would have died when the blood got into her eyes."

It had gotten the effect she wanted as Naruto felt his eyes widen in surprise at the sudden revelation.

The Kyuubi then decided to rub salt on the wound. "Oh yes, she should have died. It was because of you she almost did."

Her grin slipped as he looked at her with fury. The redhead succeeded only in pissing Naruto off.

"You… You almost killed her!" he said, his _Kyoukagan _shattering again; he felt his resolve about what he was going to do strengthen. "I'll become strong, strong enough so that I don't need your chakra!"

She scowled. In her anger, her eyes began to glow and become slitted.

"You're going to need me eventually, whether you like it or not. Don't worry, I'll always be here," she said as she receded back into the darkness, failing to usurp any control on her container this time.

Naruto only narrowed his eyes as he saw her staring back at him loathingly with her ruby eyes. No matter what, he wasn't about to let her get away with anything; after all, this was the monster that laid waste to entire nations.

Suddenly, the world twisted, and another second later, he was blinking the sleep out of his eyes.

* * *

Everyone in the Hokage's office turned their attention to Naruto as he began to stir. Their talk just ended and everyone was about ready to go home.

Naruto then sat up, still looking really tired. "The Kyuubi is a bitch."

The next thing that happened had everyone blinking in confusion: The blond fell backwards, once more giving into the wiles of slumber.

Kill Joy no Jutsu (A.K.A. Author's Note): Well, here's the new chapter. Now to explain some things…

I'm sorry if I made Mizuki a little more powerful than normal, but it was a little necessary to advance the storyline.

Some of you are asking to stop having Naruto copying so many Limits, but think about it for a second. He has a Limit that can copy other Limits without any ill side effects; would you want to stop at just a couple? It may seem like I'm making him god-like, but not really. The limits and weaknesses I have given the Kyoukagan sort of prevent that from happening.

Second order of business: Here you all were thinking that Sakura had it bad. Mizuki just had the worst day of his life, plain and simple. Oh, and I imagine that some of you think that earth + fire = magma or something else, but for some odd reason, I can't see it that way. Don't worry; I plan on giving Sakura a major change of attitude come the Chunin exam arc.

Thankfully we are past that issue, how did you all like my try at a female Kyuubi? No, this isn't going to be a Kyuubi/Naruto pairing. She's just a little too evil for that right now. This is just me trying to go out on a limb and experiment. Also, how did you all like the change I gave to Naruto's mindscape?

If any of you read that, congratulations. I'll post the information about the Hyakurai next chapter because the author's note now is becoming way too long.


	7. Silvery Flowers in the Red Dawn

**Chapter 7- Silvery Flowers in the Red Dawn**

_He numbly waded through the silvery water, feeling a hypnotic voice reaching out for him. His image followed his wake in the cracked mirrors set into the walls. Pipes wound in and out of them, leaving an eerie sound as water dripped from them. There was no light except from the end of the hall where a dull red glow shone._

_Naruto's eyes were half-lidded as he walked, not knowing where he was going; just following the sweet voice that whispered for him. Although his body was moving on a whim of its own, his mind was aware of what was going on. He knew this labyrinth, but he couldn't place where he remembered it from._

"_Come here… my Naruto," a soft, sweet voice whispered._

_It was so soft compared to the voices that always followed him whenever he walked down the streets of Konoha; shouts of 'demon' and other colorful names chased him wherever he went. This voice, though… it was so sweet to his ears, like a soft serenade in the moonlight. All of his pains just seemed like a thousand miles away right now._

"_I know your deepest desires…I can give them to you," echoed the voice._

_It seemed like it would give him what he dreamed of all of his life. Everything he wanted- the power to become a kage and to protect those he cared about, to be loved and cared by someone, to just plain be wanted and needed- and it seemed this voice could give him all of it._

"_Just follow my voice…" it said, caressing his ears._

_Naruto turned the corner, entering the antechamber and finding the originator of the voice seductively walk out of the shadows. It was the infamous Kyuubi, but what was off with her was that she seemed almost… welcoming._

_She motioned him to come closer, looking so innocent, but underneath it all his senses screamed at him; no matter what she wanted, her intentions were and always will be evil. Even then, he couldn't help it; his legs were moving on their own, guiding him ever closer to his worst nightmare. _

_The closer he walked to the gate that contained his inner demon, the more feral Kyuubi became, abandoning her loving demeanor for something a bit more fitting of her nature._

_In his mind, he screamed for himself to stop, but even then he still slid past the bars and the clear barrier separating him from her. Her eyes gave off an ominous crimson glow while becoming fox like and her hair became messier. Everything about her now screamed 'malicious', including the fanged smile she gave him. _

"_You belong to me, Naruto-kun," she said whispering into his ears._

_Kyuubi took a step back, still wearing her evil smile. Faster than his eyes could track, her clawed hand wrapped itself around his neck, slowly choking him to death._Naruto shot out of his nightmare, flinging cold sweat off of his head across the bed he was lying on. He breathed hard, glad that his windpipe wasn't being crushed anymore by a certain redheaded bitch.

* * *

The blond laid his head on his pillow, wiping away the sweat covering him. That was one nasty nightmare, and part of him knew that it was his tenant telling him that he had made a bad choice when he chose not to use her power.

The devil was a girl in a red dress with a large rack. If he told anyone that, they would probably laugh their asses off, but it was the truth. She was seductive, and he had never heard such a sweet voice in his entire life. It was a funny thought to him that the nine-tailed fox was trying to seduce him to get her way, another thing that many people would probably laugh about.

He sighed as he felt the chakra feeding his _Kyoukagan _on instinct; probably because of the adrenaline was running through his body. With a mere thought, he stopped feeding his silvery eyes the spirit-like energy, causing them to turn back into crystal-blue.

His head looked over to the side where his alarm clock usually presided, only to see that it wasn't there. He blinked his eyes in confusion, trying to figure out where it had gone. It was only when he lifted up his head did he discover he was at Iruka's house again. That's when his memories of yesterday's incident returned. Naruto guessed that his former teacher worried enough that he felt it would be a good thing to let him stay over for the night.

Sighing, the sun-kissed boy got out of bed, still wearing his clothes. After a dream like that, he didn't know if he wanted to sleep.

His eyes caught the moonlight, glinting in what little of it shown through the closed window. It had been a while since he last looked upon it, not since he visited Haku's and Zabuza's hideout. There was something relaxing about staring at it.

Seeing no one nearby, he slid off his goggles and opened up the window. He allowed a peaceful smile to trace his face as he got onto the rooftop. The gentle breeze going through Konoha only made for a perfect moment to think and straighten out his mind.

* * *

Anko was not a heavy sleeper. Dropping a pin in the middle of the night was enough to wake her. She often thought it was because of her traitorous teacher that her body acted this way, allowing some of her paranoia to get the best of her until the day that Orochimaru might die.

So, when somebody walked on the roof, all of her senses went wild. Her first thought was someone had broken in, but she didn't hear anymore noise when the intruder stopped on the top of the roof. If the person stopped there, they weren't obviously burglars- not that it would be smart in the first place to steal from a shinobi. Who would be up at this time of night in the first place? It almost had to be three o'clock in the morning.

Letting her curiosity get the better of her, she got off the couch she slept on- Iruka allowed her to stay the night because of the Mizuki incident yesterday- and walked over to the windows. Quietly, she slid it open and, like a shadow, moved on the walls using chakra.

When she peaked past the roof line, the last thing she expected to see was Naruto, quietly staring at the moon. His back was turned to her, not even sensing her presence.

She allowed a pang of sadness to go through her being. Even though he didn't know it, they both were a lot alike. Both of them were looked down upon by the villagers; she was the snake's student and he was the container of the Kyuubi. If she had known his life was such hell, she would've allowed herself to know him earlier. Loneliness was the worst form of torment one could experience.

Naruto stared at the moon, his thoughts still a maelstrom of confusion. When he heard a voice, he jumped a couple inches into the air from surprise.

"What's up brat?" he heard the person ask.

He turned to meet the voice and was slightly shocked to see Anko staring at him with her hands on her hips. Though, it might've been his imagination, her eyes seemed to be stained with a mixture of curiosity and something he could only recall Kakashi, Iruka, and the Sandaime showing: worry.

"What the hell are you doing here at Iruka's house?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

Anko was already starting to take a liking to him. "For your information, Maggot, he allowed me to stay here for the night. Now, mind telling me what's wrong?"

For the first time, she saw Naruto's silvery pupils as he stared at her, seeing if she was trustworthy. It was almost unsettling to see the glistening eyes looking at her, like he was staring into her soul. Now she understood why the Hokage and the others found these eyes so fascinating; they really were beautiful. Though, she would probably slit her own throat before openly saying it.

Finally, he gave a shrug and turned back to the moon, silently telling her she could join him. Anko did just that and took a seat next to him.

"Why aren't you wearing your goggles like usual?" she asked, trying to get a conversation started.

He thought about it for several seconds. "I don't like to wear them, but at the same time I do so that I can hide my eyes… and to remember a friend of mine."

The last part he spoke in a whisper, but it was enough to tell her what happened yesterday wasn't his first encounter with death.

This also told her something else: He wanted nothing more to show off his eyes, but at the same time he didn't want to flaunt it like the Uchiha. Naruto, at least to her, was very humble, thinking of the right thing to do. Now Anko understood why Iruka took such an interest in the blond; the teacher saw past the mask.

"We're a lot alike you know," she quietly said, catching his interest. "We're both not really liked by the village; I'm known as that 'snake bitch', and that's putting it nicely. They're a couple names I don't want to remember being called, but I know what it's like."

Naruto stared at her with a newfound respect. He was curious to know why she was called such things, but instead found himself biting his tongue; things like that were kept to one's self unless they wanted to talk about it.

"Thanks," he whispered.

She knew the underlying message; it was a thank-you for being there. "Eh, no problem, just don't get mushy on me."

They stayed silent, enjoying the other's company. A simple connection and newfound respect for the other had been established.

Anko was now enjoying the idea of Iruka and her keeping an eye on Naruto. Before they were dismissed, the aged man gave them the task of keeping Naruto safe and preventing anyone from finding out about the _Kyoukagan_. At first, she didn't think she'd enjoy this duty, but after this single moment, Anko found herself looking forward to it.

Likewise, the only time Naruto met Anko growing up was whenever he happened to be in the Hokage's office when she something to report. He never gave a second thought about this woman, scratching her off as nothing more than a random (if psychotic) lady. Now, he found himself having to change that view; she was like him.

"How come you're awake?" Anko asked out of the blue.

To her interest, the blond boy sighed. "Nightmare."

"That's understandable; I have them a lot too."

"Why are you awake?" Naruto asked, finding it his turn in the game of twenty questions.

"You woke me up when you ran across the roof. It doesn't take much to wake me up," she answered. "Why do you call it _Kyoukagan_?"

Naruto looked caught off guard by the question, but chose to indulge her of the name's origin. She found it strange how he could come up with such a name, but hearing the story of it, it was fitting in more way than one.

Afterwards, the blond asked her why the villagers didn't like her, and she told the tale. Naruto cold only wonder why somebody would betray another person like that, let alone a whole entire village. Anko, though, kept the information on her cursed seal to herself; that was a little piece of her past she didn't like to indulge to anyone.

Afterwards, the two sat there in a comfortable silence, but sooner than the two thought possible, the sky began to look like a painted canvas. They both talked away into the remainder of the night, taking time to understand the other, knowing they were probably going to be encountering each other a lot.

"I'm going to go and meet up with my team," said Naruto, who was now standing and working out the kinks in his back. "Thanks for that."

"Yeah, no problem; go and kick ass today," Anko tried to encourage… in her own unique way.

"As long as it doesn't involve cats, today will be a good day," he thought with a sigh.

With that, the two departed from each other's company for the day. Naruto did so with one of his true smiles playing his lips; he found someone he could add to his 'precious person' list.

* * *

Sasuke was surprised to see his goggle-wearing teammate at the usual spot much earlier than him, which was a miracle by itself since Naruto usually was the last one here, next to Kakashi-sensei. The blond sat on the rails of the bridge while thinking, staying quiet as he stared off into space.

Of course, that didn't last when he greeted him: "Hey! Bastard! Did you get all of your needed beauty sleep?"

If Sakura was here, Naruto could imagine himself getting a knuckle sandwich for that little comment, but oh did it feel good to taunt the Uchiha!

Sasuke wrinkled his nose in annoyance, but kept his remarks to himself; it was too early in the morning to butt heads with the dead last.

"What's wrong? Weasel got your tongue?" taunted Naruto.

Naruto had little idea just how much that particular retort got under Sasuke's skin. It pissed him off so much that the raven-haired boy leapt across the bridge with his _Sharingan_ active. Just as the Uchiha leapt at him, Naruto slipped and stuck himself to the bridge with chakra, making his rival fly past him and land in the cold water. The whole time, the blond was laughing his ass off at getting under his rival's skin.

"When I get my hands on you, I'm going to kill you, Dobe!" he threatened from the water below.

"Oh, so wee-little Sasuke hates weasels?" the blond taunted with a grin.

Naruto felt that it was time to retreat when the Uchiha began the hand seals for a fire jutsu he didn't feel the need to stick around for. Just as Sasuke blew out a large fireball, Naruto leapt onto the bridge, still wearing his prankster grin even as a fountain of fire blew from behind his back.

When he turned to walk away to other side of the bridge to avoid being the subject of Sasuke's torture sessions, he felt his Bloodline Limit sensing capabilities go haywire. His head swiveled as he tried to find the man, only to jump backwards as he found him right behind his back. The newcomer looked down at him with a mixture of amusement and interest as he held his hands in his pockets.

Sasuke looked murderous as he climbed out of the water sopping wet, but stopped from committing a homicide as he saw a jounin he didn't recognize scrupulously studying Naruto, who was now starting to get nervous –the blond didn't exactly like the feeling of being under a microscope.

"Well, my first thoughts of you two are that you don't get along well. Am I right?" the newcomer asked with a smile.

It was Naruto's turn to ask who the strange man was, "And you are…?"

"You can call me Yamato, and I'm your substitute sensei until Kakashi-senpai gets back from his mission," the now named Yamato answered.

"When will sensei get back?" asked Sasuke.

"He's supposed to be away for about a week."

The headgear-wearing ANBU turned his attention back to Naruto, who was now looking at him with cat-like curiosity, going so far as to cock his head to the side.

It didn't surprise him; he knew about the Bloodline Limit sensing capabilities of the _Kyoukagan_, at least from what Hokage-sama disclosed. He was going to have to wait till later, though, to look past the goggles.

"Okay you two," began Yamato, "we have some missions we have to get underway. So let's head to the Hokage tower and get the orders from Hokage-sama."

The two remaining members of Team Seven groaned at the thought of doing the chores of some lazy-ass person.

* * *

"He's better than I thought. Here I was thinking that we were going to watch some whiny ass kid; but it's funny… come to find out we're both a lot alike," Anko told Iruka.

Both of them were sitting at Ichiraku's for lunch, Iruka taking advantage of his break from teaching wannabe ninjas and Anko trying to get out of the stuffy interrogation room.

"He quickly grows on you," said Iruka with a smile.

The duck-haired woman leaned on her hand as she continued to think about their little mission from the Hokage. She was working with the guy she secretly liked to protect a Limit that would have God knows how many countries licking their chops at the idea of getting a hold of it. One slip and the world would go down the path to another Great Shinobi War, and all for the sake of one human being. It sounded _so_ simple.

"Hard to believe so much could happen if the wrong person finds out," she noted.

"Yeah, I know. And then there's the Kyuubi to top it all off," Iruka thought allowed. "I don't know why, but Fate seems to hate Naruto a lot."

Anko grunted as she finished off another stick of dango. "That, or he's damn lucky."

"I'll agree with that too. I'm just glad to know that you two will get along."

She grunted again as she went back to eating her favorite dumpling.

Giving her one last glance before resuming eating his own bowl of ramen, Iruka found his new partner very interesting. Anko was right when she said Naruto and her were a lot alike; she was simply an older, female version of his favorite student –albeit, far more sadistic.

"I have question for you," Anko began, grabbing his attention. "You got this powerful Limit, and you're easily S-class; why don't you become a jounin, or something?"

Iruka shrugged as he thought about it, "I don't know. Honestly, I'm just not power hungry like other ninja, and I also like to teach."

That wasn't an answer she was expecting to hear. He just didn't care; all Iruka wanted was a peaceful life with no bells or whistles, which was interesting since most ninja make it a goal to be as powerful as possible. On the other hand, an S-class fighter teaching a bunch of ninja hopefuls could actually lead to a stronger village. Now she understood; he was making the village a better place in his own subtle way.

"I think I get it," Anko said, earning a smile from him. Had she been any other woman, she might have melted at the sight of it, but she had a reputation to keep.

Taking a look at a nearby clock, Iruka sighed, seeing he had to leave for class or he was going to be late. It was usually about this time he had to restore order anyways, or Konohamaru would make things a lot worse than they needed to be.

"I have to go," he said, getting his partner's attention. "If I don't leave now, Konohamaru will probably blow up a toilet or do something to my desk."

"Yeah, I have to be going too," Anko said, while standing up.

Just as she turned around, she remembered wanting to ask him for a date. Too bad he already disappeared for his class when she turned back around. Even though she didn't show it, her mind was inwardly stewing at the thought of missing out on a chance to ask him out.

She left looking a bit more temperamental than normal. Her victims today weren't going to like her.

* * *

After catching the same damn cat three times in a row, Naruto was ready to use an icicle to neuter the little beast of burden. Thankfully, Yamato created a wooden carrier so the animal didn't get away again –and to prevent Naruto from playing 'doctor' with the cat.

Yamato's brief show of his _Mokuton_ capabilities already had Naruto drooling at the mouth. Just looking at it, he could see the similarities it shared with his _Hyouton_; it was an element based Limit. He had to literally prevent himself from copying it.

Sasuke on the other hand was aggravated to have found one other ability outside of the ice techniques that he couldn't copy. By now, many of his fellow clansmen would have a whole arsenal at their disposal; but no, not him! And it was all because his teammate was using attacks he couldn't use!

Finally, the two had been dismissed, but as Naruto was going to head off to his favorite ramen stand, Yamato called for him.

"Hey, you don't mind if you come with me to the nearby training field? There's some things I need to ask you about," the jounin asked.

"No problem" agreed Naruto past clenched teeth, turning his head so slowly to the jounin his neck muscles could be heard squeaking.

The last time he had a bowl of his favorite salty meal was before the Wave mission. He was now going through withdrawals, his food having somehow been taken away from him due to one incident after another. And once again, his precious ramen slipped in between his fingers.

Either way, Naruto followed the _Mokuton_ user over to a nearby training area where the man turned around to face and study him under a microscope once more.

"Alright, tell me what Limits you have copied so far," Yamato ordered.

Naruto stood in shock for a second before his brain registered a quick lie. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't try to lie to me," said Yamato. "Don't worry, I know all about the _Kyoukagan_. Hokage-sama put me as your sensei for the week for a reason."

"You mean Jiji told you about my eyes?!" yelled the blond, furious that his secret was leaked once more.

"Yes, it's so that I can help train you," Yamato reassured while thinking of way to get on the boy's good side; thankfully he already had one. "Oh, I forgot to mention, I have a Bloodline Limit that you might like copying. You know, from when I made that cage out of wood?"

If there was hostility before, it completely disappeared as Naruto's look of fury did a one-eighty and became one of childish excitement.

"So far I copied," Naruto complied with his foxy grin, counting off his fingers, "_Sharingan, Hyouton, Howaido Chakra,_ and _Hyakurai_."

Yamato stood there in deep thought. Already the boy had a very capable arsenal, but he could tell that he lacked a lot of experience in using them. That was why he was here, so that he could train him in the use of _Hyouton, Mokuton_, and maybe _Kinzokuton_ –that was if Sakura was willing to let him copy it.

Speaking of which, he had to pay her a visit tonight.

"Well, I'm going to help you train your _Hyouton_ skills and allow you to copy my _Mokuton_, if that's alright with you," said the jounin.

"I can?!" Naruto asked with Excitement.

Right after Yamato nodded his head in confirmation the hyperactive blond ripped off his goggles and shattered his eyes to copy the Limit. The older man watched the mirror-like eyes with fascination while Naruto underwent the process of copying.

When he felt the click in the back of his mind, the living maelstrom gave a thumb up. Now he had five Bloodlines at his disposal.

"Alright, now change into _Mokuton_ however way you do it so I can give you the basics," ordered the man.

His new student was quick to comply and willed for his eyes to change. Yamato watched with interest as mirror shards fell out of Naruto's eyes, revealing the same exact black color as his own.

With that small showing of the _Kyoukagan_, Yamato already found it astounding. A Bloodline Limit that could copy other Limits… this was something completely unheard of. He could see why Kakashi once called the boy the 'most unpredictable ninja in Konoha'. This was about as unpredictable as it would come.

Setting his thoughts aside, he talked about _Mokuton_, "Alright, first things first…"

* * *

By the time Naruto finished his training with Yamato it was around dinner time. He was begging the gods he would be able to sit down and at least enjoy one bowl without interruption.

When he thought of his training, he couldn't help but smile knowing he was learning the _Wood Clone Technique_. It was right in the alleyway of his favorite attacks, but the best part was that it was far more durable than a normal clone –though, they could only use other _Mokuton_ techniques, which he severely lacked at the moment.

Naruto smiled as he caught sight of his favorite teacher sitting down and enjoying a bowl of ramen for dinner. Next to him sat the ever crazy Anko.

Right on time, Iruka sensed the bioelectricity of the blond and turned around to greet him with his usual friendly smile.

"How was today?" asked the scarred man.

"I copied another Limit called _Mokuton_ from Yamato-sensei," the blond answered as he sat next to him.

"Really? You know you're going to have to master each of those Limits right?"

Naruto grimace at the thought; knowledge and experience of such things didn't come by without hard work. "Yeah, I know, but you're teaching me how to use _Hyakurai_, Yamato-sensei is teaching me how to use _Mokuton_ and _Hyouton_, and Kakashi-sensei is teaching me how to use _Byaku Chakra; Sharingan_ is a dead give me."

"That is true," said Iruka, finding himself going into teacher mode about the _Sharingan_, "but the _Sharingan_ actually takes time and battle experience to add other tomoa."

"I hate it to use it," muttered Naruto, staring at the bowl of ramen in front of him.

"Why would that be, Maggot?" asked Anko from the other side of Iruka.

"I don't want to be like Teme and steal other people's jutsu," he said with slight anger tinting his voice. "They work hard for that stuff and I just don't want to steal it!"

Iruka allowed a soft smile to trace his face. "I can understand that; you don't want power handed to you on a silver platter, but this is something you've got to understand: it's a tool. As shinobi, we need to use all of our tools at our disposal, even if we don't like them."

Naruto looked slightly upset at the idea, but he didn't think of it that way before. He didn't want to use the _Sharingan_ because he didn't want to be like Sasuke or any other Uchiha. If he wanted power, he was going to get it his own way.

"I'll only use it if I have to," said the blond to no one but himself.

Iruka heard it, though, and shook his head. The way his student acted still astounded him sometimes.

Deciding he was going to brighten things up a bit, Iruka turned it onto another subject: "When we're done with dinner, we should head over to a training area so that we can work on _Hyakurai_. I'm serious when I say I'm not going to pay for another electric outage, even if you did it."

Naruto brightened up. The only thing he found equally addicting to ramen was learning how to use his _Kyoukagan_ and the other Limits he copied.

With a smile on his face, Naruto bit into the first bite of ramen he had in a month. He looked forward to the training session.

* * *

Sakura was bored to hell, having had to stay in the hospital until the doctors cleared her. They all said she still occasionally showed signs of whatever happened and they assumed it was going to be at least one more day before it cleared up. At least they would be releasing her tomorrow.

The bubble-gum-haired girl was also upset that her teammates had yet to pay her a visit. Her parents were always visiting, but it would've been nice to see the people she practically lived with during the Wave mission, even if it was the blond idiot.

Then there was the mystery person that gave her the flowers. It couldn't have been Naruto –it wasn't his style; plus the bouquet looked very expensive. Maybe it was Sasuke? As soon as the thought entered her mind, she could feel her inner self starting to giggle with excitement, though would he really do something like that for her? She doubted it, but then again, the two got closer during the Wave mission.

When a man she didn't recognize walked into her room, every ounce of her being screamed in delight that her boredom was about to end for at least several seconds. She shrunk a bit under his studious gaze, but relaxed when he smiled.

From the looks of his uniform, he was a Jounin of some kind with his most unique characteristic being the headgear he was wearing and his almond shaped eyes.

"So, you're the other member of Team Seven?" he asked.

"Uh, yeah…" Sakura trailed, a little unsure of what was going on.

"Your teammates would've made visits, but they've been pretty busy –especially today- with some of the missions we needed done," he explained. "Anyways, you can call me Yamato, and I'm your replacement sensei until Kakashi-senpai gets back from a mission."

"Oh, when will he get back?" she found herself asking.

"Not for about a week, but even when he gets back I'll still be training you and Naruto on a couple things."

"Like what?"

"Well, we're about to find out."

Yamato pulled out a clog of dirt from one of his pockets –Sakura couldn't help but wonder why he was carrying around a clog of dirt- and held it out to her. Sakura raised an eyebrow at the weird gesture, but she took it into her hands anyways. She looked to him for what she was supposed to do.

"Put some chakra into it," he explained.

She did as ordered and felt her mouth drop in shock as the clog began to float in the air. Her shock quickly became playful excitement as she began to experimentally mess with it, making it form and mold like a piece of clay.

To explain how it felt… it felt like the dirt was a part of her. If she'd been any other kunoichi, she might've not liked the idea, but now the thought of playing with it was… exciting. Having the dirt run through her fingers… it felt as natural as breathing.

"How am I doing this?!" she excitedly asked.

"A Bloodline Limit."

As soon as he said the magical words, she lost concentration of the dirt, making it fall into her lap as her eyes became the size of plates. She turned to Yamato and was about to say something akin to rebuke, but stopped as he put up his hand.

"Trust me, it's a Limit, but we'll see what kind here in a second," the ANBU said. "Now, split your chakra in half, using one half to manipulate the dirt."

Sakura did as told, but doing so while noticeably shaking with a mixture of excitement and shock. She had a Bloodline Limit like Sasuke (and maybe Naruto), but how was that possible? None of her family had taken the occupation of a ninja, as far as she knew; no one related to her displayed anything special.

"How… How do I have one?" she asked, having the dirt lazily float above the palms of her hand.

"Don't know. Although it's rare, it's still possible for people to develop a new Limit out of nowhere, though, the odds are very high." _But_ _that doesn't mean a single thing if Naruto is your teammate,_ Yamato added. "Now, will you please shove the other half of the chakra into the dirt?"

She looked at him for a second before she willed the other half of the chakra she had floating in the air next to the dirt into the said material. What happened next was not what she expected: the dirt became a silvery, metallic dust.

"What just…?" she tried to ask, but was interrupted by Yamato.

"How interesting," he said, gaining her attention. "It's a lot like my _Mokuton_ and Naruto's _Hyouton_ in that it's an elemental Limit. I do believe the Sandaime called it _Kinzokuton_, Metal Release."

In that one moment Sakura realized two things. One was that she really had her own Limit, and the other was that Naruto really did have a Limit of his own like they guessed back at Wave. But that meant that Sasuke and she gone the wrong way around things; they thought he had a Doujutsu, not a Bi-Element. Did this also mean Haku and Naruto were related some way since they both used _Hyouton_? There were almost a thousand questions brought up by the revelation she couldn't begin to understand.

Yamato noticed how she was trying to take things in, and how she also now looked to be on the verge of a mental breakdown. The man could have sworn her brain was going to smoke at any second. He also had to remind himself that stuff like this had to stay secret.

"Oh, and Sakura," the said girl looked up before her brain could fully malfunction, "you can't tell anybody about this or otherwise you'll put yourself in danger. Many other countries would like nothing more than to steal something like this. Okay?"

"Got it!" she said, faking a smile.

He nodded and just before he left out the door, he turned back to her. "That reminds me, you and Naruto are going to join me each day after we do our usual missions for training."

With those last words he left the hospital. When she felt he was gone, her brain finally switched the safety circuit on, making Sakura's eyes roll in the back of her head as she went unconscious. To discover she somehow had a Limit and then to top off those questions about Naruto… a person's brain could only take so much.

* * *

Naruto walked into his apartment satisfied. Well… partially. When he got into his room, he plopped down on his bed to rest after his session with Iruka. Anko was there, hanging out in a tree while discovering more about the two enigmas.

He spent most of the time trying to meditate and get the _Hyakurai_ under control. The bioelectricity was very difficult to get a handle on, but he had no doubt in his mind the training for it was going to be worth a lot.

During that moment, Iruka also told him more information about his Limit. Evidently the training for the _Hyakurai_ began when the person was around the age of seven when their bioelectricity would slowly increase. The Limit doesn't become active until the proper age because the child could harm their selves and anyone around him/her, among other things. The reason the control was second nature to a _Hyakurai_ user was because they had it since a young age. Sadly for Naruto, he had to start from scratch.

After that, his teacher suggested they do some taijutsu practice. That was when he found another flaw to the _Hyakurai_ that had Anko laughing at his expense. Although the brain was thinking faster than was normal, the blond found his body wasn't able keep up. Iruka, having trained in his Limit for his entire life, was running circles around him while he tried to get everything straight.

The abuse stopped when Iruka did a _One Thousand Years of Pain Technique_- thus why Anko was laughing- but then added a cherry on top; the man allowed some of his superior bioelectricity into the attack, shocking Naruto at the same time.

To simply put it, it didn't feel good. Even now he could still feel the abuse his rectum took.

The blond sighed as he stood up from his bed, his butt still sore from that last attack, so he could take a shower and relax. As he made his way to the doorway, his eyes spied his backpack, still full with Haku's scrolls. It had been a while since he allowed himself to look at them.

With a shrug of his shoulders, he grabbed his bag and made his way to the kitchen table instead. Once he got there, he scattered the scrolls across the table, thinking of which one he should look at first.

Deciding he now had time to look over the taijutsu scroll, he opened it up to study it a bit. Although the medic-nin fighting style was the basis of it, it also had very unique qualities that could be used with _Hyouton_. Again, he was aggravated he needed senbon, but looking at it, he could see that the fighting style was flexible enough for him to use other weapons. With a couple tweaks here and there, he could actually adapt it for his other Limits as well, but that was going to take a while.

He smiled as he realized something else: it needed a name, but what could he call it?

"I know!" he said, suddenly getting an idea, "How about the _Wraith Fist Style_? Yeah, that sounds cool!"

Now excited at the thought of learning taijutsu that he could call his own, he turned to the _Hyouton_ scroll. Unrolling it, he skimmed past the _Ice Release: Frostbite_ so that he could get to the next technique.

Before he read what it could do, he burned the name into his mind, already excited at the thought of practicing with it: _Crystal Ice Swords Technique._ Now he understood why the _Wraith Fist_ was created to adapt: It was because Haku had mastered more than one weapon and he needed a fighting style that allowed some room for creativity.

But how was he going to practice his water and ice jutsu? His days were kind of booked with all of the training he was going to do with Yamato and Iruka. Well there was the shower…

Finding that he had nowhere else to go for the practice, he went to take his shower while training at the same time.

* * *

Finally, after having to run halfway across the Fire country and only then to water walk across the ocean to get to Whirlpool, Kakashi was now standing at the gate of Uzumakigakura. It was now night and the moon casted a bright glow on the village.

The place was beautiful, being next to the ocean. The plant life was luscious and colorful as was the rest of the island. Sadly, the place was a ghost town. Not a single speck of life infiltrated the place and the wild was just beginning to take it over once more.

His eyes scanned the place, finding it funny that this village used to be a bustling city. He remembered this was where Kushina, his sensei's wife, heralded from. It would have been nice place to live in back in the day, but because of it being absorbed into one of the larger countries, it became debunked and caused a mass immigration of refugees across the continent.

Finding he spent enough time staring at the ghost town, he leapt on a nearby rooftop and began to head towards the daimyo's tower.

Smaller hidden villages didn't have a Kage of any kind, but relied on daimyos with shinobi based experience and were at least S-class in nature. For the bigger hidden villages, such as Konoha or Kiri, there was the Kage and the daimyo. The daimyo ruled the citizens and the civilians while the Kage headed the ninja community. Both ruled in tandem, but such balance couldn't be found in such a small place like this.

Kakashi leapt onto the tower and stuck to it with chakra, maintaining his speed as he climbed it. With no people here, it was easy to get what he needed, and that was info on the mysterious _Kyoukagan_.

He got past the window that led into the daimyo's office and only then did he allow himself to relax for the first time that day. For now he would sleep. Tomorrow morning Kakashi would begin to scrounge around for info on the _Kyoukagan_, and on the last day he would set off for home, hopefully with some useful information.

Sitting in the daimyo's chair, which was surprisingly comfortable for not being used for a long time, he allowed himself to sleep for a couple hours.

* * *

The next day, Naruto met up with Sasuke and Yamato and did missions. Once again, Naruto was deciding whether he should neuter the cat, but this time it was with either an icicle or a tree branch, but thankfully Yamato created another carrier cage.

"Please squeeze harder and break its back so we don't have to chase it anymore," muttered Naruto as he watched the tubby woman crush the innocent animal for not the last time.

All of them walked into the Hokage's assignment room and were met by the Sandaime smoking his pipe and Iruka. Naruto smiled at his former teacher, waiting for when he could meet with the man for more lessons on the _Hyakurai_.

"Good job today," congratulated Sarutobi. "Now, I do believe that is enough missions for the day. Sakura was just dismissed from the hospital, so my suggestion, Tenzo, is to go and meet her."

"Yes, Hokage-sama," agreed Yamato.

He knew what that meant: teach Sakura the basics of her Limit. Though _Kinzokuton_ and _Mokuton_ were different, many of the dynamics were shared, as was the case with all elemental Limits. The ANBU allowed his mind to get a little creative so Sakura could at least have one small technique.

"Alright, you're all dismissed," ordered the aged man.

Sasuke left with his hands in his pockets, going off so that he could train. Yamato went the other direction with Naruto trailing him. The two were headed over to Sakura's house so they could pick her up.

"So, have you been able to master the _Wood Clone Technique_?" asked the man as the blond walked up next to him.

"No, Iruka-sensei had me practice the _Hyakurai_; I wasn't able to get any practice in it," Naruto subconsciously rubbed his butt, remembering the one attack his teacher had given him.

"Alright, that's fine," continued Yamato. "With us training with Sakura, it's going to be a little difficult to practice _Mokuton_. I'll give you scrolls so that you can practice some moves, and when you finally master it I'll give you another. Right now, your teammate thinks that you can only use _Hyouton_ and we need to keep it that way."

"Wait a minute! You told her about my _Hyouton_?!" chastised Naruto.

"Sometimes in order to keep something secret, you need to let out a small piece so that you can lure away the hunter; better to reveal a small tidbit than the whole thing, right?"

"Yeah, I guess you're right," grumbled Naruto.

"Why don't you trust your teammates?" asked Yamato.

"Because Sasuke would throw a tantrum or something and yell it to the whole world," the sun-kissed boy explained, "and Sakura would blab it to Sasuke."

Yamato could understand about Sasuke; said boy had serious lust for power, and to then discover somebody with abilities capable of making anyone green with envy, the Uchiha would lose it. But Sakura on the other hand… if she would get past the fan-girl tendencies then she'd be a valuable ally.

"Well, I kind of understand, but don't you think you could at least trust Sakura?" suggested the _Mokuton_ user.

Naruto thought about it. "Well…but… maybe she wouldn't."

"We'll worry about it later," said Yamato as he walked ahead the blond.

Their conversation stopped as they walked up to the Haruno household. Yamato politely rang the doorbell. Several minutes later, they were welcomed by Sakura at the front door.

"Hey, you're doing better Sakura-chan!" noted Naruto upon seeing her.

"Are you ready for some training on your _Kinzokuton_?" asked Yamato with a friendly smile.

"But I just got back from the hospital!" the girl whined.

"Yes, but you don't have to worry, we aren't doing anything major today, just some basics," the brown haired man said, trying to convince her to come along.

Sakura wrinkled her nose in aggravation, but stepped out of the doorway anyways. "Fine, I might as well since I'm wearing my training clothes."

* * *

About ten minutes later, the small group was at a training ground. Naruto already shattered his eyes to activate his _Hyouton_ while Sakura looked a little nervous at the thought of working with her _Kinzokuton_ for the first time.

"Hey, Yamato-sensei, would you mind if I show you this new technique of mine?" asked Naruto with excitement.

"Of course not," said Yamato, giving his okay as he looked at both of them.

With a grin, Naruto flashed through seven hand seals, ending on 'ox', _"Crystal Ice Swords Technique!"_

Sakura felt her eyes widen as water formed out of the moisture in the air and began to settle on the blonde's arm, forming a knife that jutted from his wrist to about three inches away from his knuckles.

Naruto gave a nervous laugh. "Uh, it's supposed to be a lot longer, and I'm also supposed to use the other wrist too. But this is pretty good, right?"

"It is both inventive and useful," said Yamato, watching as the ice knife shattered and fell away from the blond, no longer being fed chakra, "but you need to make the sword much faster as well. Time is not on a shinobi's side in the middle of a battle."

Naruto pouted knowing that he still had a lot of work to do on it.

His part time sensei on the other hand was gauging Naruto's skill with his Limits. The blonde's skill with the elemental Limits was quickly improving, showing a natural skill for them. He couldn't gauge how good he was with _Sharingan_ or _Hyakurai_, and from what Sarutobi had explained a while back, Naruto had an instinctual grasp of _Byaku Chakra_.

Taking his mind back to the present, Yamato turned his attention onto Sakura. "Alright, last night I was able to come up with a jutsu just for you. You don't have to do it, but with the _Kinzokuton_, I would heavily suggest it."

Sakura was excited that she was going to learn another jutsu of some kind outside of her _Fire Release: Ember Shot_, or in a way invent it since she was the first _Kinzokuton_ user ever. "What is it?"

"I'm not going to be the one to name it; I'll leave that to you, but theoretically it'll allow you to create weapons on the spot. Here's the hand seals I thought would work best."

While Naruto was at a nearby pond practicing his newest _Hyouton_ jutsu, Sakura was hard at work memorizing the hand seals. Yamato watched both of them, suggesting adjustments as they went. Just before Sakura was about to try her new jutsu, their sensei put a stopper on her plans.

"Before you do that, I would heavily suggest that you practice your earth manipulation a bit," he suggested.

With a low growl of aggravation, Sakura began to saturate the dirt with her chakra. Once there was enough, she began to make small pillars dance around her. It was peaceful for her and it almost felt as natural as breathing.

After an hour of practicing their attacks, both of them were sweating, Sakura more so since her reserves were tiny compared to the chakra monster that was Naruto. Taking advantage of the break, Yamato began to explain the dynamics of elemental Limits to the two. Neither of them had a single clue their abilities were so complicated.

Once Yamato said their break was done, it was time for Sakura to try out her jutsu for the first time.

"Alright, try something simple, like a senbon, before you try something larger like a katana," suggested the ANBU.

Sakura nodded with a determined gleam in her eyes and then began the seal sequence, ending on 'dragon'.

"_Metal Release: Dragonfly Weaver!"_ she shouted, naming her first metal technique.

Once she yelled out the name of the jutsu, she stuck the ends of her fingers in the dirt and pulled out the weapon she created. When she had done so, Naruto fell to the dirt laughing and Yamato was trying his absolute best to keep a straight face but was failing miserably. Sakura gawked in disbelief as she saw what she was holding. It couldn't even be considered a toothpick, let alone a senbon; the little needle she was holding looked as thin as a hair.

"I can tell that your chakra reserves need a lot of work," Yamato tried to comfort with a smile. "Until you have enough to chakra to pull out a larger weapon, you're going to do a lot of tree climbing. Tonight, I'll try to find a way to get your reserves increased quickly."

Sakura's head fell down at the thought of how much work she had to do. Naruto pulled himself out of his stupor, but still occasionally snickered which earned a punch or two from his teammate.

"That's enough training for the day; meet me here tomorrow so we can work on your Limits more," ordered the jounin, earning a couple of nods from his students.

Sakura left for home while Naruto went his way towards Ichiraku's where he was going to meet with Iruka and Anko for his _Hyakurai_ training. But before he left for them, he thought it was good idea to visit a weapon shop for a pack of senbon.

* * *

"So, how was your second day with Team Seven?" asked a curious Sandaime who was now leaning his head against his hands.

"Not bad at all," reported Yamato. "Naruto is highly resourceful and takes to learning new jutsu extremely well; mastering it, though, is a whole other story. Sakura still needs a good deal of practice before she can fully make use of her _Kinzokuton_. I highly suggest she learns how to use weapons outside of kunai and shuriken too."

"Yes, I agree; do teach Sakura how to use some basic weapons."

"Anything on the Kakashi-senpai's mission yet?"

Sarutobi leaned back in his chair and folded his hands. "He sent me a messenger bird to me detailing how everything is going. So far, information on the _Kyoukagan_ is highly difficult to find. Kakashi has yet to even find a tiny detail or reference to it."

"I guess I should be leaving," said Yamato as he stood up, but before he could leave, the Hokage's aged voice echoed through the room.

"Something worries me," the aged man said, pulling out his pipe and putting some fresh tobacco in it. "Every time the _Kyoukagan_ and _Rin'negan_ has appeared the world changes. The first time, it was the founding of the shinobi world itself, and now, what do you think might happen?"

Yamato found himself taking a seat as he listened. Hokage-sama was right; although he only briefly heard about the _Rin'negan_ in the briefings of what he was to expect when taking on Team Seven, he didn't give much thought of how just important the _Kyoukagan_ was.

"Honestly," answered the ANBU, "I really don't know."

For the first time Yamato could recall, Sarutobi began to look his age in front of him as he leaned forward in his desk, setting his aged face on his folded hands. He seemed to be looking into the distant future, trying to decode the riddle Fate dished out.

"My time is coming," Sarutobi softly said, "and I constantly worry about what's going to happen once I pass away and let the next generation take the reams. My apprentice is becoming active once more and I know that the next time I see him, it will be a meeting that will end in death."

He didn't know what to say to that. Even though he didn't want to admit it, Yamato could tell that things were about to get harried in the next couple months. The world was quiet, the calm before the storm that swept over the lands.

"I know," he silently admitted to himself as he leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling.

* * *

Two days later, Kakashi found himself running out of time and he had yet to find anything on the _Kyoukagan_. He checked everywhere, not finding a single scrap of information on it. The vaults, the file rooms, everywhere… there was absolutely nothing. All of the precious information that this village once contained was destroyed.

He now found himself reclining in the daimyo's seat with his hand against his chin, thinking of any places info could be found. The jounin even made trips to the library, but like the daimyo's tower, it was bare of books.

With a sigh, he leaned forward and began to randomly slide open the desk drawers. When he approached the last one, he had almost closed it, but felt his visible eye narrow as he noticed something off with this particular drawer: it was smaller on the inside than what the outside suggested. Getting hunch there was something more here he knocked on the bottom of the drawer, hearing a hollow sound. It was a secret compartment and there was something inside.

Kakashi hastily pulled it out and quickly took out the bottom of the drawer, revealing a single scroll. He unrolled it and felt his eye widen.

"This… This is a…" he immediately rolled it back up and stuffed it into his coat pocket.

With speed in his steps he headed back to Konoha, not sparing to eat a ration of his. The Sandaime had to see this because he couldn't make heads or tails of it, but if it was what he thought it was, a lot of things were going to happen.

* * *

Early in the morning the next day, the Sandaime and Kakashi could be found in the Hokage's office. The copy-cat looked exhausted, having ran back home through the night.

"You're back earlier than I was expecting," noted Sarutobi, rubbing his eyes as he tried to fully wake up.

It was around four o'clock, an ungodly hour to be up- Gai was the only person who went to bed at midnight and then woke up at two, but many considered him to be clinically insane in the first place

"I'm sorry to wake you up, but I could only find one piece of information on the _Kyoukagan_, but even then, I can't make sense of it, but I might have an idea of what the text is," explained the Hatake as he pulled out the scroll for Sandaime to look over.

Sarutobi took it and read it, feeling his eyes widen with every word he scanned.

* * *

_In the blackest part of night, nigh of dawn, the mirror flower stands, a testament to the world's insanity. The winds come and the rains cover it, but the flower lives. The stars watch it, begging for it to join them. It dreams of the day it becomes like them_

_A serpent comes to it, caressing it, begging for its power to be its own and promising to give it what dreams of the most, but the thorns keep it at bay._

_Angry, the snake coils and grasps it, hoping to consume it, but dies as the hawk takes its body and devours it. The hawk watches the flower, jealous of its beauty and power, and the poison that runs through its veins, killing all who try to taste it. It understands the mirror flower as it stands by itself, wanting someone to see it._

_In the distance, dawn paints the sky, bringing with it a red dawn; a bloody dawn. Red clouds listen to it, obeying its calling and devouring the land, bringing suffering and death. Even the hawk remains weary, but the mirror flower stands, banishing the clouds as they touch. Eventually dawn meets it, clashing until the end._

_The Mirror Flower stands… And the Red Dawn consumes._Sarutobi closed his eyes as he thought about it; things really were going to become crazy in the next couple months.

* * *

"Is that a…" began Kakashi.

"Yes," interrupted Sarutobi, "it is a prophecy. From the looks of it, something big is going to happen."

"Do you know what it means?" asked Kakashi with worry.

"That I do. The flower should be obvious; the only other thing that I could tell you is that the snake is Orochimaru. Everything else, I couldn't tell you."

Kakashi narrowed his eye in fury at the thought of the snake targeting his student. "What do we do?"

"We wait. Hopefully, Jiraiya will get here in the next couple days. He has some experience with prophecies. You have the rest of the day off; just try your best to keep you mind off these things, we'll worry about it later."

The copy-cat nodded, but even then, his mind strayed back to the prophecy.

* * *

In a bathhouse in the middle of nowhere, a white-haired man with a giant scroll strapped to his back sped away from the place with a very noticeable lecherous grin plastered to his face. He moved so fast he left a trail of dust in his wake.

The hunter-nin team stood at the place the pervert had formerly occupied, completely dumbfounded that this powerful shinobi they were sent to hunt was that perverted.

All of the male ninjas took a step away from the lone female of the group, practically tasting the killer intent in the air. They all imagined if any unlucky man was in arm's reach of her, they would be castrated on the spot, something none of them wanted to experience.

Kill Joy no Jutsu (A.K.A. Author's Note): I'm not dead if that's what you all are thinking. I've just been busy with The Jinchuuriki Nine, but now I will return to this story for a while. Also, I had to scrap this chapter three, count them: THREE, times before I finally got it right. This was the last chapter before the first one that involves the Chunin exam arc.

Also, for you guys that like fast updates, please, let it be known that if you guys want crappy chapters and ones that have a shorter word count, then by all means rush me. Give me time when I work or otherwise what I said in the last sentence will happen and I really don't want to do that; my standards as a writer make it to where I'm a perfectionist, but on brighter note, at least the chapter was really long.

The Anko and Naruto scene was kind of nice. It brought the two closer, which will be necessary to get Iruka and her into a relationship. On top of that, she will play a decent role in this story.

Like I said before, the Chunin exam finally begins in the next chapter. By then, Naruto should have a decent grasp of a couple of his Limits. Also, should I have Naruto copy a couple more original Limits since he is going to the Chunin exam other than the Byukagan? I mean there are a lot of people from different countries going to be there and what better place than a Chunin exam to get a little crazy? If you got any ideas, please PM me.

And one of my favorite characters, Jiraiya, makes an appearance. I love just how many comedy situations you can put that man through.

Not much else for me to go over other than Original Limits and Jutsu. I know that the Limit descriptions are really, REALLY long, but they're highly detailed, especially for you guys out there that keep asking about them.

Scroll of Forbidden Techniques:

Wraith Fist Style- Taijutsu- Mid B Rank- A highly unique form of taijutsu that is actually a hybrid of many other forms. It was originally developed to be adaptive, able to take on different styles of fighting, but maintaining its original structure. The Wraith Fist Style was originally developed by Haku as means to better use his jutsu and weaponry.

Crystal Ice Swords Technique- Ninjutsu- Bloodline Limit- An ice technique created by Haku before he passed away. It creates ice swords that are attached at the wrists and extends past the hand. Each sword is at minimal three feet long and is stronger than steel because of the chakra fed into the weapons. Can be used for multiple purposes and are a reason behind the creation of the Wraith Fist Style. Skilled users can launch the swords from the wrists like missiles, making this also a useful long-range attack.

Metal Release: Dragonfly Weaver- Ninjutsu- Bloodline Limit- The first metal technique created by Sakura from suggestions that were given to her from Yamato. After the person finishes the hand seals, the person sticks their hand into the ground and pulls out a weapon of their choice, combining the chakra as the weapon is pulled out of the earth. The more metal the weapon uses, the more chakra it requires. Skilled users can create multiple weapons at once.

Original Bloodline Limits:

_Kinzokuton (Metal Release) – Element_ – An elemental-class Bloodline Limit that allows the person to use the Bi-Element metal. It is a first generation Limit with Haruno Sakura being the only recorded user of it at the moment.

It is an earth dominant elemental Limit, thereby allowing basic manipulation of dirt, stone, and anything on the order of. Users commonly have large chakra reserves due to the requirements many of the attacks have- Sakura is the only exception to this.

_Hyakurai (One Thousand Thunderclaps)-_ Anatomy and Function- People with Hyakurai have substantially powerful bioelectricity and give off so much that they could electrocute anybody stupid enough to touch them and be able to withstand a full lightning strike. These people also have a natural talent for lightning based jutsu, but there greatest ability is to use real lightning which has several differences with chakra based electricity in that it's highly more powerful and harder to control. In advanced and older users, their is so much electricity running through their body that they are capable of condensing it into blue lightning, electricty with a positive charge and considered ten times more powerful than normal.

Minor abilities include being able to sense people through their bioelectricity, which is unique between person to person, and to be able to absorb lightning. Other abilities include and increase to the brain's processing power, which can be so great that the body may lag with inadequate training.

Major weaknesses include water. If they come into contact with it, they could very well electrocute themselves, knocking them out. The other weakness (more or less one if you live in a city) is that they constantly give off the electricity, threatening to harm people they touch or to cause a failure of a power grid if they come close enough to an outlet. It is highly embarrassing for it to be traced back to its originator.

To control this Limit, Hyakurai users constantly have to suppress their bioelectricity, allowing them to act like normal people. Control is difficult to obtain, but often is second nature, especially if one is trained in it very early. The limit itself doesn't establish as least until the seventh year of age. The body constantly suppresses it until it can handle it, and to keep the mother from constantly being shocked when inside the womb if she isn't from the clan. Once the body becomes ready for it, it slowly develops, allowing more than enough time to get control of it.

Though much family history has been lost because of the blood purges that swept through the Land of Water, it is confirmed that the original members of the clan are from Kiri. It is unknown if Iruka is the last of the clan. Rumor has that the clan was originally massacred by the Yondaime Mizukage himself because of the massive amount of power the Umino clan was reported to have.


	8. Climbing the Ladder

**Chapter 8- Climbing the Ladder**

Naruto grumbled as he walked through the crowds, having been thrown out yet another weaponry shop. He lost track of how many he visited today, but the ones willing to take his money did so by selling their stuff at ungodly high prices. Now he was looking for a halfway decent shop so he could buy one measly pack of senbon.

He'd be training his different Limits by now, but he wasn't willing to waste a day of rest and relaxation, especially when he practically didn't have time to himself. Heck, he even trained his water and ice jutsu in the shower (though he didn't like training his _Hyouton_ in there; it always made the water cold). Today, he was just going chill, even if it killed him.

The sun-kissed genin raised his head up as he found another weapon shop, this one full to the rim of weapons, some of which he had yet to identify. It was smaller but completely packed, leaving no square inch of the walls undecorated, or at least that's how it looked from the outside.

Naruto sighed as he made a mental bet with himself. How long would it take for the shop owner to notice him this time? Knowing his luck, the very moment he stepped foot onto the floor. Relying on his lucky stars, he timidly walked in. Like he guessed, there were lots of shiny, pointy objects, and all of them didn't leave enough room to maneuver without getting poked.

The first person he saw was a girl, maybe a year older than him, behind the counter, lazily reading a magazine of some kind. At first, Naruto scratched it off as another one of those stupid girly magazines, but upon closer inspection he found himself raising an eyebrow, finding it to be a weapon catalogue. This girl was a true-blue kunoichi, and not one of those stupid fan-girls haunting the streets.

She herself had chocolate brown hair done up in two Chinese buns. Her clothing matched her hair style and was a cross between a pink and red.

She looked up as she heard the bell attached to the door jingle, signifying a customer's entrance. Whoever she was, her eyes lit up at seeing a potential buyer.

"Welcome! Is there anything I can help you with?" she asked, leaning on the counter with an expectant smile.

Naruto nervously chuckled, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head –man; there were a lot of weapons here! "Yeah, I'm kind of looking for some senbon. You wouldn't happen to have any would you?"

He watched as she blinked for a second, and then looked surprise.

"Senbon?" she asked, "Wow! It's not very often that we get orders of those."

"How come?"

"Well," the girl began to explain, "they're very difficult weapons to use. They need a lot of precision and are much harder to throw because they're so much lighter than kunai. You plan on practicing acupuncture?"

Naruto rubbed the back of his head again, slightly intimidated by just how difficult they sounded to use. Sadly, for the best results of the _Wraith Fist Style_, they were needed. He never thought of just how precision oriented Haku's taijutsu was until he read the scroll.

"Sort of…" he muttered. "I'm working on something like it."

"Really? What would that be?" she asked with curiosity.

Both of them were interrupted as man walked in from the back room. "Hey, Tenten, don't scare the customers. If they don't want to talk about their fighting styles, they don't have to."

The Uzumaki slowly turned his attention to the newcomer. Just looking at him, he could tell that the man was Tenten's father. Their hair was the exact same color, but unlike his daughter, his eyes were obsidian. Body wise, he was wiry like Kakashi and his cheeks were decorated by scars from battles he probably experienced as a shinobi.

Naruto couldn't help but gulp at the sight of him, knowing he was about to get thrown out. And the fact that the man was a former shinobi didn't help lower his fear.

His eyes watched from behind his goggles as Tenten's father looked taken aback for but a brief second. What took place next Naruto could've never predicted: the man smiled. It was not just any smile; it was friendly, the first one he could ever recall getting from a shop owner of any kind.

"Well, what kind of weapons are you looking for?" he asked.

Naruto shook his head to get over the shock. "I'm looking for some senbon."

Like Tenten, her father looked surprised. "Really? It's not very often we get orders of those. Mind if I ask why?"

Naruto took a deep breath as he got ready to explain; Tenten leaned in closer to listen, being a part of a team that specialized in taijutsu. "I'm trying to learn a taijutsu style that used to belong to a friend of me, and it requires senbon for the best parts of it."

Tenten blinked, completely surprised by what she heard. Her father wasn't far off from showing the same emotion, but he kept it reigned in by rubbing his chin.

"Have you ever trained in senbon?" he asked Naruto out of the blue.

"Uh…no," the blond answered, slightly embarrassed that he never used the weapon before when he was buying a set.

The man nodded his head. "What type of taijutsu style are you trying to learn? I don't recall any that required senbon."

"My friend invented it," said Naruto.

"Who's your friend?" asked a Tenten, curious to know the person who invented such a unique fighting style.

"He passed away," answered the blond morosely.

"Oh," she said, upset that she had accidentally hit a sore spot.

"Did he give a name to this taijutsu?" Tenten's father asked him with a sad smile.

Naruto looked up, still looking somber, but his eyes held a tiny speck of pride. "He didn't name it, but I did. I call it the _Wraith Fist Style."_

"I'll have to look at it sometime, that's if you're willing."

Tenten's father walked behind the counter and pulled out a box full of the throwing needles. With a smile, Naruto walked up to the counter and took them in hand.

"You can call me Hotaru," he said with a friendly smile, "and I'll put this first pack of forty needles on the house. Would you mind if I took a look at one of you shuriken?"

Naruto exuberantly pulled out one of his throwing stars, ecstatic that he had gotten some weapons for free –already he liked this guy… a lot. The man ran his fingers over the throwing star, inspecting the sharpness and the craftsmanship of it. When he finished, he clicked his tongue in aggravation.

"These are very poor quality," Hotaru said, shaking his head.

"They were damn expensive too," muttered Naruto.

At that the man gave another sad smile. "How about I get you a new set of shuriken and kunai at half the price? You can't very well be a shinobi with such poor weapons."

Naruto couldn't believe his ears, and neither could Tenten. Her father never gave discounts to anyone! Though their shop was smaller, the weapons they made were of very high quality, and many shinobi came here -and here _only_!- for their tools. Never, not even once, had Hotaru given a discount to _any_ living person.

"I don't know what to say," thanked Naruto.

"No problem," Hotaru thought for a second before he gave another friendly smile. "You know, if you want, I'd be more than willing to teach you how to use those senbon. First I'd have to take a look at that taijutsu scroll, just to see how it works and why you need senbon, but that's up to you as well."

At that point, Tenten fell out of her chair with a surprised squeak. Both of them turned their attention on her as she pulled herself back up on the chair, rubbing her head from her collision on the ground.

"You never trained anybody!" she said.

"I guess I never have, huh?" he said with a smile.

"Thanks," Naruto said, donning another one of his infamous foxy grins. "It's hard for me to find a good weapon shop, or one that's as friendly."

"It's my pleasure. Just stop by tomorrow if you can and I'll give you some pointers."

The blond nodded his head and waved good-bye as he left the shop. Tenten rounded on her father with a mixture of confusion and curiosity as soon as their customer disappeared behind a corner.

"I thought you didn't like teach; that's why you became an ANBU, so you could get away with not teaching a genin squad," she questioned, with a grimace.

"You're right, but I'm doing this for an old friend of mine," he simply answered with a distant look.

Both of them turned their attention into the backroom as they heard something break. Tenten groaned and put her hand up to her face, knowing this had something to do with her little brother.

"I do believe that your little brother…" he told her with a smirk.

"I know, I know! I'll go fix it!" Tenten yelled in aggravation as she went into the room to wrangle up her little brother before more damage could be done to the house.

As soon as she left, Hotaru turned back to the outside still staring at the path that Naruto had taken.

_So, Kushina,_ he thought to himself, _that's your son. He's a lot like you._Anko sat on the rooftop, watching as Naruto scurried through the streets with a large smile on his face and a bag full of brand new weapons. It looked as if he finally found a weapon shop that was willing to supply his needs. That was good; otherwise, she would've lost it and give a serious 'talking' to the owner, which usually ended with the poor victim pissing their pants.

* * *

She got up and began to follow to where Naruto was going, and from the general direction he was heading to, he was off to Ichiraku's. That was good; she could use some dango anyways.

Anko would be off doing other things, but she was working on the mission the Sandaime assigned her and Iruka, and that was to keep a close eye on Naruto. Her partner would be more out to do this than her, but the Uzumaki would easily pick him out of a crowd with his Limit-sensing capabilities.

Anko became curious as to why her ward was going around to the different weapon shops. Not to mention it was a good excuse to grab a bite to eat before she went back to business in watching him. Suddenly getting an idea, the Konoha's craziest ninja jumped from the building she was on, landing next to and startling Naruto.

"Hey, Maggot!" she greeted in her usual over-exuberant way. "How about we go grab some lunch since I'm off for a little bit?"

After regaining his composure, he shrugged his shoulders, "Sure, I was just heading to Ichiraku's anyways."

It took the duo a couple minutes to get to the place, and when they got there Naruto ordered his usual and Anko bought several plates full of dango.

"So, what made you go out to the weapon shops?" she asked, starting off their conversation.

"I had to find some senbon," he told her with a smile. "That guy from the last shop was cool; he gave them to me for free and sold me a kunai and shuriken set at half price."

"That's pretty good," she said, glad to know she wasn't going to have to visit the guy for a private talk. "Senbon though? Why would you need those?"

"Well, I need them for a taijutsu style," the blond answered. "Would you be able to give me some pointers on how to use them?"

Anko thought about it for a second. "Maybe after the weekend when you train with Iruka and me again."

"Damn it," muttered Naruto. Oh well, at least Hotaru was willing to teach him tomorrow.

"Ah, don't worry about it. If you need something to train with, you do have five other Limits to practice with."

He sighed as he listened to what she suggested. "Why can't my _Kyoukagan_ copy knowledge too?"

"Who said life was fair?" Anko tried to comfort while messing up Naruto's hair.

Both of them turned their attention to Ayame as she brought out there lunches, balancing several of bowls of ramen and platefuls of dango, much to their astonishment.

"Here you guys go," she said in her perky voice, giving them their lunch.

While Naruto was eating his ramen, he couldn't help but think. If Iruka was his big brother figure, then Anko was the big sister he never had. Though she had crazy tendencies, he wouldn't want it to be anyone else.

Anko's mind was along the same lines. Her and the brat were alike in a lot of aspects, and because of that, she couldn't help but warm up to him. She'd watch him and never abandon him –not like what her old sensei did to her.

When they had finished eating, Anko turned her attention onto the boy. "Alright, brat, make sure that you relax today and don't try anything stupid."

"Got it!" agreed Naruto, giving her a mock salute.

Both of them got up from the table and headed in their own directions; Naruto was going towards his apartment to study his scrolls and Anko was heading to the interrogation rooms.

* * *

Sakura was on the ground panting, her chakra reserves having been dwindled down to nothing again. She was training her _Kinzokuton_, but much to her own aggravation, she couldn't pull out anything bigger than an average sized katana. Though, that was a serious improvement from her first pathetic attempt.

During the week of training with Yamato, he not only had her practice her _Metal Release: Dragonfly Weaver,_ but also had her work on weapon-based combat. She hated katana and anything with a blade, but found she loved weapons with a shaft or pole, including, but not limited to, bo staffs, spears, and scythes. Sadly, all of those required metal -lots of it- and that meant a lot more chakra she didn't have.

She slowly picked herself off the ground, but when she stood, she found one Uchiha Sasuke entering into the training grounds. Thankfully, he hadn't seen her try to create a weapon or something.

"What are you doing?" he asked, genuinely surprised to see her out on the training field; he figured she'd be at home working on her hair or something like that.

"Training," she simply answered, wiping the sweat off of her face.

It brought some satisfaction to her to see Sasuke caught off guard by her new training regime. Although Yamato gave her and the rest of Team Seven the weekend off, she needed to get her chakra reserves at least to where she could pull out a bo staff from the ground.

"Need some help?" he asked in his cool demeanor.

Even though Sasuke didn't want to, he was still willing to at least help out a teammate in need (except Naruto). It had been awhile since the two were able to train together in private since the Wave mission, and it would be good to see how she was doing.

Inside Sakura's mind, her inner self was screaming 'HELL YEAH!' and anything of the like in victory. Sasuke wanted to train with _her,_ not Ino-pig or anyone else.

"Sure, it would be nice," she said, accepting his offer with a smile. "You wouldn't happen to know how to increase my chakra reserves faster too?"

"The only thing I can think of is the tree walking exercise," he answered with a shrug of his shoulders, "that, or practicing your jutsu."

She sighed in defeat at the thought of how long it was going to take before she got her reserves where she wanted. Her chakra capacity was growing at a snail's pace, much to her chagrin.

"Do you mind sparring?" Sasuke asked.

"Sure," she answered.

Sakura walked over to where she made a katana with her _Metal Release: Dragonfly Weaver_ and picked up the discarded weapon. Sasuke raised an interested eyebrow at her interest in kinjutsu. He never knew her to be the weapon type of girl.

"You're trying to learn how to use a katana?" he questioned, finding an interest in helping her since he could easily work a sword.

"Yeah, but I suck at it," the bubble-gum haired girl said. "I work better with staffs and stuff like that."

"If you want, I can help you with your sword training."

"Really?" Sakura asked with a happy gleam in her eyes.

"Sure, I've got some time; come at me," the Uchiha ordered while pulling out a kunai.

Even though he couldn't stand Sakura's fan-girl tendencies, he found himself smiling at the thought of teaching her how to use a weapon. In a way, it made her not so useless like she was at the academy.

She charged forward while putting on a game face. Sasuke may be her crush, but she wasn't willing to embarrass herself by acting weak.

* * *

Kakashi and Yamato sat next to each other at a bar, trying to relax before their weekend could abruptly end.

"So, how was their week with you?" asked Kakashi, turning his single eye to Yamato.

"They weren't bad," the _Mokuton_ user answered, taking a quick sip at his green tea –he didn't abhor alcohol per say, but he definitely didn't like it. "Sasuke was moody like what you described. Naruto and Sakura weren't bad on their training; he managed to learn the _Wood Clone Technique_ and now he should be at least trying to learn the new move I gave him. Over all, I would say he's a jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none, but like I said, he's got a strong grasp of _Hyouton_ and _Mokuton_. I've had Sakura also train in weapons besides her _Kinzokuton_; her reserves are really small, so we've been trying to get them up to par, but it'll still be a while."

"That's pretty good." Yamato looked at his former captain and shook his head, seeing that Kakashi already downed his liquor without anyone seeing past the mask. "You still need to stick around to train Naruto and Sakura. I also have to train Sasuke in using _Sharingan_, but at the same time, I've got to train Naruto to use _Byaku Chakra_. How are we going to pull this one off?"

"Well," thought Yamato, "while I train the other two, you could take Sasuke. If you want to train Naruto, I would suggest you start bargaining with Iruka and see if you can get him every other day."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Kakashi agreed.

Both of them looked to the side as they saw Kurenai and Asuma take their seats next to them. The woman jounin was quick to order her self some alcohol, but Asuma turned it down, instead taking out a fresh cancer stick.

"So, Kakashi, what's your plan for the upcoming Chunin Exams?" asked Asuma.

The copy-cat shrugged, taking a moment to think about it. "It depends. I'm not so sure if my team is ready for it, but then again, they did take on a pretty high ranked mission."

"I heard about that," spoke Kurenai. "I'm glad you guys got out of that mess okay."

"What brings you here, Yamato?" questioned the chain-smoker. "I'd figure you'd be out with the ANBU, not looking like an average jounin."

The said man took another swig of his tea before he answered: "I'm actually taking the time to help Kakashi-senpai teach his students."

"They're that much of a handful?"

"Actually, my students aren't half bad," Kakashi told him from across the counter. "The only thing they really need to work on is teamwork, but either way, even Naruto is getting stronger."

"Well that's good, but I still don't think he could compare to a lot of the other rookies," Kurenai thought aloud.

"You need to put a lot more faith in him," the copy-cat said, thinking about certain Bloodline Limit Naruto just so happened to have. "Like I said, he's getting better."

About then, both Yamato and Kakashi got up from their stools, getting ready to head out and enjoy their couple days off.

"Where are you two going?" asked Asuma.

"We're just going to relax," answered Yamato.

* * *

The next day, Naruto walked into the weapon shop he visited yesterday, wanting to meet Hotaru for senbon practice. When he walked into the door, he was greeted by both the weapon smith and Tenten.

"I was wondering when you were going to get here," Hotaru welcomed. "Tenten will be joining us since she is a weapon specialist."

"That's cool," said a smiling Naruto. "Who'll watch the shop while you're away?"

"Oh, my wife will."

Everyone turned to the backroom as yelling rung through the place. Tenten groaned in annoyance while Hotaru rubbed the side of his face. Naruto winced at the volume the woman yelled; something about 'not supposed to play with that knife,' or something on the order of.

"That's if my son can behave for five seconds and stay out my weapons," Hotaru finally said with a defeated sigh.

Ten minutes later, the small group made it to a nearby training area riddled with weapons –this place was obviously the family's favorite clearing to train in, if their obsession with weapons was anything to go by. Hotaru turned to the two as he got into the center of the clearing.

"Tenten, would you mind setting up the targets while I give Naruto the basics?" he asked.

His daughter grumbled as she complied, sensing an underlying order from her superior. As soon as she was gone, Hotaru began to teach.

"Alright," he began. "Senbon are some of the most difficult weapons to make use of, simply because you have to be precise. That's why only hunter-nin make use of them, and often times, they're highly trained in the arts of acupuncture. I'm imagining that you plan on learning the said art, right?"

Naruto bobbed his head up and down like a parrot. If he had a notebook nearby, he would do the Sakura-thing and jot down notes. This was stuff you weren't taught in the academy.

"Now," Hotaru continued to explain, "you can't pierce bone with them like kunai, but you can use them in close combat like one –I even know a couple hunter-nin that put them in between their fingers and use them like claws. The trick is to hit the weak spots of the human body, such as the neck. Now, before we begin you training, could I please look at that scroll?"

"Oh, sure," Naruto agreed.

The blond pulled out the scroll containing the info on the _Wraith Fist Style_ and threw it towards the older man. Hotaru opened the scroll and quickly glanced over it, but the more he looked over it, the more he could feel himself being astounded.

This fighting style was very unique. Unlike many others he looked at, this one was created just so the user simply adapted to everything he or she wanted. It could be changed up for different weapons, not just senbon, but looking at it, he could see that the most spectacular forms of combat in the style required the use of the throwing needles. And it was simplistic, basing itself off of a common fighting style, but then changing it up to become a very deadly system.

Hotaru whistled as he rolled up the scroll and threw it back to Naruto.

"I can now see why you need to learn how to use senbon," the man said. "Well, I think we've wasted enough time."

With a nod, the sun-kissed boy followed his one-time teacher towards where Tenten was lazily reclining against a tree, watching them with a mixture of aggravation and interest.

"Now," tutored Hotaru, "when you throw a senbon, it's a flick of the wrist…"

* * *

Asuma greeted his team at his usual spot: Chouji's favorite restaurant for Korean barbeque. He quickly found his team by following the sounds of his plump student's bites, finding the ever lazy Nara and a depressed Ino.

The Sarutobi kept trying to figure out what was wrong with the girl, but she would brush it off or not even answer altogether. Shikamaru and Chouji liked it that way because she wasn't being overbearing, but it worried Asuma. Normally she would be the driving force of the team, mainly through ordering around and threatening her teammates, but now she was so out of it even she didn't train.

"Hey guys," he greeted, receiving a 'hello sensei' from Chouji, a 'Yo' from Shika, and a grunt from Ino.

"Well, I think we should train today," he suggested.

That earned groans from the Akimichi and the Nara, but Ino continued to stay silent.

And to believe that he was trying to put them into the Chunin exams! At this rate, Naruto wouldn't have trouble fighting them –except maybe Shika and his oversized brain.

"Could we please wait until after we're done eating?" pleaded Chouji.

With a sigh, he nodded and took a seat next to his overweight student. The chain-smoker allowed his eyes to travel the normally bright Ino, trying to figure out what was going through her mind as she continued to stare off into space.

After they eaten, they headed towards their favorite training area, walking through the ever-busy afternoon crowds.

Ino was aimlessly walking, only allowing herself to automatically follow her team. Her brain was still deep in thought, still trying to think of where to go from here.

This sucked! What was there left for her to fight for? She became a kunoichi for all the wrong reasons, and now she was paying the price with her one and only goal now gone. Somehow, her former best friend won. If only someone would walk out of nowhere and give her something worth fighting for…

Ino was so deep in thought that she didn't see another blond –one that wasn't paying attention either- coming straight at her.

Shikamaru turned to the right as he heard a crash and muttered one of his usual 'what a drag' as he saw how the Yanamaka had collided with none other than one Uzumaki Naruto.

"ARGH! My senbon!" yelled the former dead-last.

True to what he said, there were needles strewn about the place, his collision having let them all loose. He began to frantically pick them up, at least until he felt a powerful killer intent. Naruto was afraid to look at the direction it was coming from, but gulped as he did anyway, immediately regretting it upon sight of Ino and several needles sticking out of odd spots on her body.

"YOU IDIOT!" she yelled as she stood up.

Naruto nervously laughed. "Hi Ino, it's been a while. Um, could I please have my senbon back?"

Ino roared as she jumped at him, making the blond frantically crawl away before any permanent damage could be done. When he looked back, he saw the enraged girl struggling to get away from her sensei's grip in her quest to kill him, Asuma having grabbed the back of her shirt.

"You're trying to learn how to use senbon?" questioned Asuma. "Aren't those a little difficult to use for a genin?"

"Hey, I happen to know how to use them!" shouted Naruto, upset that someone was once again underestimating him.

Hearing this, Ino began to calm down enough that her sensei let go of her.

They all watched as the blond boy picked up one of the discarded needles and threw it at a nearby poster of some guy. The senbon was quick to hit, landing dead on the crotch of the guy on the poster.

"Nice throw," congratulated Shikamaru, wincing at the sight Naruto's chosen target.

"Damn it! I was aiming for the head!" shouted an annoyed Naruto. "That would still be painful, though…" he muttered as an afterthought.

"Who taught you how to use senbon?" Asuma asked out of curiosity.

"It was Hotaru-san at the weapon shop just down the street," the blond answered, pointing his thumb at the general direction of the store. "But he only taught me the basics. I think Anko will be teaching me the more advance stuff about it."

Asuma couldn't believe his ears. _The_ Hotaru, a man that he could recall working with on missions, taught someone? How did the village pariah pull that off!? That man did not like teaching, only giving his daughter, Tenten, lessons, but for this to come out of the blue…?

"Really?" asked a curious Asuma; he had to see this somehow and he knew just the way. "Would you like to come along and practice with my team for a while?"

Naruto adopted his usual foxy grin at the thought of training with old friends. "That would be awesome."

* * *

On the rooftops above, Anko was banging her head against a pole. She knew just how much Naruto loved to show off when he trained just from watching the practices he had with Iruka. It was going to be likely he would to reveal too much. If that happened, her partner would kill her. And Iruka's wrath was something Anko didn't want to deal with!

With a growl, she followed after them, keeping a hawk's eye on her charge to make sure he didn't do anything to showy.

* * *

All of them finally got to the training area and Naruto was excited to be able to fight someone outside of his own team. It got boring training with Sasuke and Sakura, especially when you knew how the _Sharingan_ and _Kinzokuton_ worked.

Ino was still pissed at him, giving him dirty looks the entire way there. Shikamaru groaned as he saw it; Chouji and he enjoyed it when the overbearing blonde stayed quiet, but now it seemed that she went back to her old, pissy self.

"We'll pair up today and have a free-for-all fight," ordered Asuma, turning around to look at his team and their guest. "That means you should feel free to use whatever is in your arsenal; just don't change the landscape too much. Hey, Naruto, how about you and Ino pair up for the first fight?"

Naruto gulped as he nodded his head as Ino cracked her knuckles in anticipation. Now she could get him back for turning her into a pincushion!

Asuma was just about to give the okay to begin, but stopped as he felt a well-concealed chakra signature. He slowly turned his head to the side and out of the corner of his eye he could see Mitarashi Anko watching Naruto from the trees.

_What the hell is she doing here_, he asked himself.

He wasn't going to announce her presence; mentally, he decided he was going to wait and find out what she wanted after the fireworks.

"Alright, guys," said Asuma, turning his attention back to the two combatants, "get ready."

Naruto adjusted his goggles while Ino pulled out a kunai. The whiskered boy didn't know whether to activate a Bloodline Limit or not, but he shattered his eyes anyways just in case.

"Begin!" shouted Asuma, curious to see what the Uzumaki learned from Hotaru.

Ino was the first to charge with her knife in tow. Naruto quickly pulled out a senbon and parried the weapon, then jumped backwards and counterattacked by sending the needle into Ino's arm.

"That hurt!" she shouted as she pulled it out.

"It doesn't hurt that bad," muttered Naruto, knowing how it felt to become a human pincushion after his fight with Haku.

With a roar, she charged again, but Naruto pulled out three more of his throwing needles, placing them in between his fingers. When she got close enough, he threw them at her, but the Yanamaka jumped out of the way as the attack peppered the ground.

_How many of those damn things does he have!?_ Ino shouted in her mind as Naruto pulled out three more.

He threw them again, making her reflect them with her kunai, but as she blocked the last one, Naruto was already on her. She blocked his punch with her arm, thanking the gods for her enemy's very sloppy taijutsu. The sun-kissed boy tried a kick, but Ino blocked the attack as well, annoying him even more in the process.

Finding that one of him wasn't enough, he jumped backwards while flashing through his favorite hand seal, creating four other clones. All members of Team Ten raised an eyebrow at the sight of the _Shadow Clone Technique_, never expecting to see Naruto pull a high level Ninjutsu.

Ino dodged all of the clones, making sure none could touch her. There may be more than one Naruto at the moment, but all of them sucked at taijutsu. She flicked her kunai, killing two of the clones and did it again at the next set, making the last of them disappear with puffs of smoke.

Her eyes traveled over to the real boy that escaped her. Ino could see his brain working, watching as he concentrated. Evidently, he came up with something as another one of his foxy smiles painted his face.

Naruto now knew which Limit he was going to use. It was a while since he last used it, and it would be refreshing to use something other than an Elemental Limit. He willed his shattered eyes to become the same color as Kakashi's, feeling his chakra become denser. It was time to show off.

Ino was just about to charge him before he could do anything, but stopped as Naruto's chakra took a dramatic spike. Asuma felt it too, but unlike Ino, he was familiar with the dense chakra the demon-container was giving off; for the life of him, though, he couldn't remember from where.

"Let's get wild!" shouted Naruto as he pulled out a shuriken.

He began to pour some of the white chakra into the throwing star, making it glow ivory. That's when Asuma felt recognition hit him: only Kakashi could do that trick. Naruto threw the star, making it spin so fast it sounded like a buzz-saw. Ino jumped out of the way before it could hit, but watched with shock and awe as the weapon went cleanly through a nearby tree.

The sun-kissed boy was about to pull out a kunai, but before he could, a heel went into the back of his head, knocking him headfirst into the ground and making him go unconscious.

"IDIOT!" shouted the newcomer that hit him from behind.

"Why the hell did you do that?!" shouted Asuma. "No, the better question would be why you are here in the first place, Mitarashi Anko."

"Was does it look like I'm doing!? I'm babysitting, you asshole!" she shouted at him.

She mumbled some choice words under her breath as she hauled Naruto over her shoulders and left the clearing. Ino just blinked as she left, watching as her opponent was literally carried away from her.

"Well, that was weird," Shikamaru said, ending the silence that swept over the area.

"What the Hell!?" shouted an angry Ino. "He was stronger than me! I should have been able to beat his ass…"

Asuma canceled out her voice in favor of asking his self what had just happened. There was no doubt about it; that was _Byaku Chakra_, but the only person alive that could use it was Kakashi. Were the scarecrow and Naruto related in some way?

He stopped his private musings as he heard something that put a smile on his face.

"We're going to train!" shouted Ino for the first time since whatever took place about a week ago. "Until I can beat that blond piece of crap, we won't stop!"

"Uh, Ino, you're blonde too," muttered Chouji, pulling out another bag of chips.

"That's beside the point!"

Asuma had to hand it to Naruto: he knew how to get people back on their feet. It seemed he inadvertently pulled Ino out of her depression

* * *

Naruto was brought back to the world of the living by a splash of water. He quickly jumped up and began looking around at his new location, only to find himself back at his apartment. His eyes traveled to the culprit that threw water on him, finding a thoroughly pissed Anko, something never good for anybody's health.

"Why did you stop the battle!?" he yelled at her with his hands in the air.

"Because you used the _Kyoukagan_," she simply said, trying to keep her cool but failing miserably. "The moment you used the _Byaku Chakra_, Asuma began to suspect things. Nice move! Now people are going to start asking questions! Oh, and if you had added the chakra to the knife, you could have very well killed Ino! You're not fighting Sasuke; she's a lot weaker, or did you forget that?"

He immediately felt like crap. Once more, he allowed everything to get out of hand and if it wasn't for Anko, he could've inadvertently hurt Ino.

"If people find out about the _Kyoukagan_," Anko continued, letting a tint of worry enter her voice, "then they might make you a science experiment. I really don't want that to happen."

Naruto had also forgotten about that one as well. His blood was now the most valuable commodity on the planet, but- and he couldn't believe he was saying this- he was glad that the Kyuubi made it a lot less accessible. Still, he'd be in a lot of danger.

"Sorry, I wasn't thinking," he simply told her. He allowed himself to get into the thrill of battle and it almost caused a large calamity from what could've been a simple accident.

"Yeah, you better be," she said. "I'll keep this from Iruka, because you and I both know that he'd fly off the handle."

"Thanks."

"No problem brat," she said. "Besides, I would probably get my own ass chewed if he found out."

"I'm afraid it's too late for that," a voice said while entering the room.

Anko chuckled nervously as she turned around to meet the voice, meeting an unpleased Iruka. Naruto also tried to sneak away before his former teacher took notice, but the man's _Hyakurai_ was reading his every movement.

"Oh, no you don't," said Iruka, crossing his arms. "Don't even think that you're off the hook."

Like a puppy with its tail in between its legs, Naruto slowly walked over to the couch and sat next to Anko. For the next ten minutes, Iruka gave them –as Naruto liked to call them- a 'chew-out session'. Anko couldn't believe she was being chastised like a little kid, and Naruto just wanted to be somewhere else.

Things only got better when Iruka began to tell Naruto how Anko and he were supposed to keep an eye on him, partly as a mission from the Hokage.

"You've guys been watching me the whole time!?" the blond shouted.

"Well, actually it's been more me than Iruka since you can sense him," Anko corrected him, lazily leaning on one of her hands.

"Hokage-sama decided we should do this so we could make sure things stayed secret," Iruka explained. "It was also to make sure we don't have another incident like Mizuki."

"You guys could have at least told me…" Naruto angrily muttered.

"I think we should've too," agreed his teacher, wearing a soft smile. "It would make our job easier; it's not like we can keep track of you twenty four/seven."

It was that moment a light bulb went on in Anko's head.

"I have an idea!" she shouted, pointing a finger in the air.

_That isn't good_, the two males thought at the same time.

"How 'bout Naruto stays with one of us instead of staying at his apartment?" she suggested. "I mean, we'd be able to keep track of him easier, and he doesn't have to live by himself."

"That's… a great idea, Anko," Iruka complimented, putting his hand up to his chin at the thought. "Here's the problem: I don't quite have the income to support someone else; so that means he stays at your house."

Naruto didn't know whether to smile in joy at the thought of no longer having to live alone or to run for the hills –this was Anko they were talking about! As much as he loved his older sister figure, there was so much crazy one could take a day.

"No problem!" she agreed. "I even have a spare bedroom for him. So guess what, you'll be living with me, Maggot!"

"Could we talk about this?" Naruto tried to reason.

* * *

The next day, Sakura could be seen on the bridge looking perkier than usual. Over the weekend, Sasuke took it upon himself to teach her some basic swordsmanship, and now she could halfway use a katana and her skill with the _Fire Release: Ember Shot_ even got better.

Speaking of the stoic boy, the Uchiha was lazily reclining on a nearby tree, letting his leg dangle off the branch. Surprisingly, there was a small smirk playing his lips. He couldn't believe he was telling himself this, but he actually enjoyed all that training with Sakura. It was… nice (yeah, that was a good word)… to have someone other than one's self to work with.

Both turned their heads to the sight of Naruto walking up to them, looking disheveled and exhausted. He took his usual seat on one of the railings of the bridge. It was only then Sakura could see the bags under his eyes. His hair was also more unkempt than was considered normal.

After only a couple seconds, he started nodding off, losing his balance and landing in the water below. Sasuke shook his head in amusement and Sakura giggled as Naruto got out of the water, completely soaked and moodier than before.

"What's wrong, Dobe?" taunted Sasuke. "Didn't get enough beauty sleep?"

"More like it was a herd of elephants," Naruto muttered. He was too tired to butt heads with anybody, especially after last night.

Anko suggested he spend the night so he could at least get acquainted with her home. He halfway expected the place to look like a torture chamber, but much to his surprise it was a downright pig sty –even then, that was giving her too much credit. Every inch of the place was covered with some form of garbage or an article of clothing, some of which made him blush at the sight of. Naruto would be the first to admit he was no neat-freak, but that place could have a normal slob call it a mess.

Thankfully, his room was left untouched by the disaster area, but come night, Anko snored so loud he could've sworn a stampede was going through Konoha. He didn't get a single ounce of sleep and was now having to pay the consequences.

He wished he could stay with Iruka. Anko was the exact opposite of the man in every known aspect to human kind. She was a slob –and that was putting it mildly- and Iruka was a neat freak; she was hyper and he was calm. It was like the sun and moon in the same room. Naruto didn't know if he was going to live to thirteen if he stayed with her.

Naruto turned his tired eyes on a puff that smoke that quickly dissipated to reveal Yamato _and_ Kakashi, with the latter of the two having stuffed his nose in his ever so infamous orange book.

"Hi Kakashi-sensei," greeted Sakura.

Sasuke greeted him with a lazy wave of his hand and Naruto gave a grunt.

"Looks like you didn't get a lot of sleep last night," Yamato noted at the sight of the blond. "Mind if I ask what happened?"

"I'll give you a hint," he said with annoyance. "It's got purple hair, is crazier than a box of nuts, and it's a slob."

"Mitarashi Anko?" guessed Kakashi as he put away his book. Naruto nodded his head in confirmation. "I'm sorry to hear that, but anyways, it's good to see you guys again."

"Hey, Yamato-sensei, if Kakashi-sensei is back, then how come you're still with us?" Sakura questioned her part time teacher.

"I've become the part time sensei of Team Seven. It looks like I'll be stuck with you guys for a while," the _Mokuton_ user answered, making Sakura smile knowing that one of her favorite teachers was still sticking around.

"Now, how about we go do some missions to start off our day?" suggested Kakashi, earning groans all around.

* * *

Along the way to Hokage tower, the genin tried their best to grill details out of Kakashi about his mission, only earning the reply that it was top secret. Naruto kept silent, still not fully awake to want to question anything.

All of them entered the room where the Hokage assigned missions, greeted by the sight of the old man and Iruka who was sitting next to the Sandaime.

"I have a special mission for you guys today, specially requested even," Sarutobi said with a smile.

Even Sasuke's eyes brightened up at the thought of having been requested for this particular mission; Sakura had stars in her eyes at the thought as well. Finally, they were being noted for their hard work! Naruto on the other hand ran a palm across his face, already knowing where this was going.

"Mitarashi Anko has requested that you help Naruto move his belongings over to her house," the Hokage explained, watching how Sakura's and Sasuke's faces did a one-eighty with an amused smile -oh, how he loved to ruin a genin's day like this. "Yes, that is correct, Naruto is moving."

Sasuke and Sakura looked to their teammate for info, but found him making a look that was a cross between disgust and annoyance.

"Could we _PLEASE_ talk about this?" the blond tried to negotiate, only receiving a shake of head from his grandfather figure. "Damn."

* * *

A couple minutes later, Team Seven, except Kakashi and Yamato, had their arms full of boxes while Naruto led them to Anko's house. The moment he opened the door, Sakura and Sasuke gawked at the mess while Kakashi and Yamato felt their eyebrows shoot past their hairlines.

Yamato whistled as they entered the place. "I knew she was crazy, but man, I didn't know she was such a slob too."

"Hey," everyone turned to see Anko walk out the kitchen, "don't make fun of the mess. I at least know where everything is."

"Yeah, you should see her room," Naruto said. "This is nothing compared to it."

"You're going to live with _her_?" Sakura questioned her teammate as if he had somehow lost his marbles.

"Yep, he does now," Anko answered for her new housemate.

"Ouch," muttered Sasuke.

"No comments from the peanut gallery," the woman chastised, earning an angry look from the Uchiha. "Now get his stuff to his room."

"Watch where you step," Naruto warned, "or otherwise your foot might go where you don't want it to."

* * *

"Do you really think that those two will get along well?" questioned the Sandaime as Iruka and he took a break with tea.

"Don't worry," Iruka tried to comfort, "they both get along well; just like an older sister with a younger brother."

Iruka took a couple seconds to pour him and his commander some of the bitter drink.

"I must say Iruka," Sarutobi said as he picked up his tea, "Anko's idea is actually quite smart, but like I said, I worry about them actually acting like brother and sister."

"What makes you say that?" Iruka questioned with amusement.

"I'm just saying," the Sandaime explained with his own humor in his voice, "siblings do have a tendency to fight over everything."

"Are you saying that from experience?"

Sandaime chuckled a bit, "Sort of. Asuma often times didn't get along well with his older brother."

"Well, if I'm right," Iruka said as he took a sip from his cup, "then the two should keep each other in line, and hopefully Naruto will make Anko clean her house."

* * *

After a couple hours of unpacking –Naruto made sure he hid the boxes holding his precious scrolls under his bed before the other two noticed- all of them headed back to the Hokage tower for yet another mission.

Sasuke and Sakura thought it was funny how the entire time Naruto and Anko would act like siblings. Either they were at each other's throats or they got along well enough to have a civil conversation. But it was so funny how the two were so alike that they were dysfunctional.

Of course, Naruto got his own laughs when Sasuke slipped on some of Anko's clothes and landed on a pizza that was two weeks old. Even the Uchiha lost his cool that moment and almost began hurling chunks.

As the genin were contemplating what happened at Konoha's resident psychopath's home, Kakashi and Yamato looked up as they heard a hawk screech in the air above them.

"It looks like it's about that time," Yamato told his former captain.

"Yes, it would seem so," Kakashi agreed. He then turned to his students. "Looks like you guys get the rest of the day off. Yamato and I have some business to attend to."

With that the two disappeared in one large puff of smoke, leaving their genin to themselves.

Thinking he now had a chance, Naruto turned towards Sakura with a smile. Maybe his luck would be better today.

"Hey, Sakura-chan," he began to ask, "would you mind going on a date with me?"

"No," she rejected. "Sasuke-kun and I are going to go train this afternoon."

It was her turn to put on a friendly smile and turned towards the spot the Uchiha formerly occupied, only to see a note. Out of curiosity, she picked it up and read it.

_Sakura, I got to skip out on practice. I have to go get something._

"Darn it," she muttered as she crumpled up the note.

All the while Naruto was watching her, looking dejected over the fact that he'd been denied again, a square rock with eyeholes snuck up from behind. The blond was quick to sense the intrusion and felt his eye twitch as he turned to meet it.

"Rocks aren't square!" he shouted as he kicked it, making it and the occupants go flying.

No sooner after they landed did Konohamaru, Udon, and Moegi step out from it. All of them looked dizzy after their brief flight and the young Sarutobi looked to have a bump on his head, obviously getting the full force of the kick. What aggravated him, though, was that they were all wearing the exact same kind of goggles he wore before he graduated from the academy.

"Boss, that really hurt," Konohamaru said while rubbing the new goose egg.

"Yeah, well, rocks aren't square or have eyeholes," Naruto told them. "Why are you guys wearing the same exact goggles as my old ones?"

Then the trio noticed the new water goggles their boss was now sporting.

"Hey, those goggles are different; where'd you get them?" Udon asked while pointing.

"I found them," Naruto answered.

"Darn it!" shouted Konohamaru. "Now we have to get new goggles."

"Why are you guys here?" the blond asked the trio.

"You promised us that you would play ninja with us and we haven't been able to for a long time," Moegi said.

"That's just plain disturbing; a ninja playing ninja," Sakura thought aloud.

Konohamaru then noticed her, and Naruto knew whatever words that were going to leave his mouth weren't going to be good for his body in any way, shape, or form.

"Hey, isn't that the girl you like?" Konohamaru asked while pointing.

The whiskered blond looked towards Sakura, only to see her raise an eyebrow and cross her arms. That was about as far as Naruto wanted this to go.

"Um, Konohamaru… I really think that…"

He was unfortunate enough to have been interrupted by Udon who spoke the magic words: "She seems kind of flat-chested to me."

At that point, the Uzumaki was absolutely ready to access his _Hyakurai_ and shock the little brats for saying the absolute worst possible thing. He was stopped as a powerful killer intent flooded the area, making Naruto gulp as he remembered the ordeal with Ino yesterday. With a large amount of reluctance, he turned his head slow enough that one could hear the bones creak. Sakura lost her temper, and now him and the Konohamaru Corps were about to get the brunt.

"RUN FOR IT!" they all shouted as Sakura began a set a hand seals.

The troop ended up having dodge fireballs; more than one time Naruto cursed Sasuke for teaching his team's kunoichi how to use a fire move. They quickly rounded on a corner to get away from her.

Konohamaru ran ahead of the group, not paying attention to where he was going and collided with are a large object. Naruto stopped when he saw the young boy run into the leg of a ninja he couldn't identify. Sakura also got around the corner with a fireball ready for throwing, but stopped herself as she saw the two ninjas.

The one Konohamaru ran into was wore a black jumpsuit with a hood while his face had what the blond could identify as war paint. On his back was a single bundle, but he didn't want to be the first to find out what it was. The ninja next to the newcomer was an older kunoichi with sandy blond hair and a war fan on her back.

"That hurt," the male said, picking up Konohamaru by the scruff of his shirt. "I hate brats too."

"Hey, sorry, we were running and weren't paying attention," Naruto tried to reason.

"Kankuro, put him down. We don't need attention and there's no telling if _he_'s around," the kunoichi warned.

"As long as the boss is away, I can have a little fun," Kankuro said as he pulled back his fist.

Naruto had it at about there. Without much thought, he shattered his eyes and switched into the first Limit that came to mind: _Hyakurai_. Temari noticed the spike of chakra and turned her attention to the other blond as he got ready.

"Naruto, you shouldn't…" Sakura tried to warn, but stopped as she saw all of the nearby lights start flashing on and off.

With a roar, the Konoha genin ran forward to Kankuro with the intent to save the young Sarutobi, but the Sand-nin saw him coming and laid out a set of chakra strings to make the enraged genin trip.

Naruto did indeed trip, but everyone watched with fascination as lightning traveled from the blond to Kankuro, shocking him and sending Konohamaru in the air. Before he could hit the ground the young boy was caught by Sakura and was quickly sat down.

"You're going to pay for that!" shouted Kankuro as he stood up.

Before he could react, Naruto quickly jumped up and threw a shuriken towards a nearby tree. Remembering his lessons Iruka taught him, real lightning was easier to use with a lightning rod or conductor of some kind. He used the shuriken to send a large lightning bolt moving so fast it could barely seen with the human eye, leaving only a quick flash and a loud thunderclap that had people covering their ears, towards a nearby tree branch, splintering it and raining wood on the immediate area.

"What the hell was that, Temari!?" Kankuro shouted as he stared at the blond with wide eyes.

_When did he learn how to do that!?_ Sakura shouted in her mind.

The Konohamaru Corps' minds were along the same line of thought. The young kids' mouths dropped when they saw the attack.

_Where the hell are you?_ Naruto thought in his mind as his eyes shifted over entire the place.

Naruto valued his _Hyakurai_ and considered it the strongest Limit in his arsenal, even though his skills were nowhere near Iruka's. It was bluntly powerful; more than capable of splitting a tree into two, but the trick was controlling how much electricity you gave off. But what he really liked about this Limit was its bioelectricity-sensing capabilities.

At this current moment, both his _Hyakurai_ _**and**__ Kyoukagan_ were going crazy. Someone was nearby with a Limit of some kind. And with both the bioelectricity and Limit sensing capabilities, Naruto was worse than any bloodhound that could pulled out of someone's ass.

_THERE! _The blond quickly spun around while pulling out a kunai, sending it into the tree with a bolt of lightning following it. The electricity struck the tree, splitting it right down the middle. Everyone covered their ears, except Naruto –this was music to any _Hyakurai_ user's ears.

A red blur jumped away from the tree and landed in front of Naruto, revealing a redhead with a blood-red kanji for 'love' tattooed onto the side of his head. What really caught the Uzumaki's eyes were the dark rings around his sea-foam green eyes, a sign of severe sleep deprivation. The boy –no older than the sun-kissed Uzumaki- made Naruto feel as if he rattled a hornets' nest as a severe killer intent leaked into the air.

"Hey, Gaara, y-you know we were on our way to the hotel a-a-and then…" Kankuro pathetically tried to explain.

He stopped as chakra began to saturate the air around Gaara. Sakura felt her eyes widen as all the metal on her body, including her weapons, tried to escape her person and head to Gaara. Naruto also felt his senbon and kunai begin to fight against their holsters.

Feeling as if the redhead was challenging him, Naruto allowed his electricity to go crazy, allowing a marginal amount to exit his body and to show he was just as strong. Sakura watched in awe as lightning escaped from her teammate's body, dancing on him like a lightning rod. The most spectacular displays, though, were coming from his hands where electricity would arc and dance around his fingers.

Gaara could sense the huge amount of power coming from Naruto and upped the ante, saturating air with even more chakra, forcing all metal objects to come to him with even more force. The magnetic abilities in the air made Sakura feel like she was being dragged towards the battle of wills by her weapons alone.

The redhead narrowed his eyes, daring the blond across from him to draw on more power. And Naruto just about to do that, at least until a commanding voice rung through the area.

"ENOUGH!" it yelled.

Immediately, whatever force pulling the metal towards Gaara abruptly stopped and Naruto quickly de-shattered his eyes, knowing exactly who that voice belonged to. He looked up and was greeted by the sight of an angry Iruka, whose attention was more set on the Suna-nins.

"As guests, you should all at least show some manners," he ordered. "I know you may be here for the Chunin Exams, but that doesn't give you the right to trash the place. Leave before I remove you myself."

Temari muttered a 'shit' under her breath and quickly began walking away with Kankuro in tow. When neither sensed Gaara coming with them, they turned around to see him still staring at Naruto.

"What is your name?" the red ghoul questioned.

Sakura shivered at the sound of the voice, as did the Konohamaru Corps. It sounded so hollow, so bloodthirsty that it felt like it could kill them just from listening to it.

"Uzumaki Naruto. How 'bout you?" Naruto asked back.

"Gaara," and with that, the redhead turned to leave.

'I'm sorry sensei,' Naruto mouthed towards his teacher so no one else could hear, but felt surprised when Iruka blinked his right eye at him, telling him they would talk more later.

"Alright you guys," he said, allowing a friendly smile to paint his face. "I think you all should be heading home before your parents get mad. And I know for a fact, Naruto, that Anko is starting to panic after having lost track of you."

Everyone nodded, and with a couple goodbyes from the Konohamaru Corps everyone, except Iruka and Naruto, left the alleyway.

"I'm…" Naruto was quickly interrupted.

"Don't worry about it," Iruka comforted. "In this case I'll let it slide. There are a lot of rumors of Gaara and none of them are good. And you did save Konohamaru from getting a black eye. Now, I think we should be leaving before somebody starts questioning what happened to their trees."

The two quickly got out of the alleyway, headed straight for Ichiraku's before anyone could see the damage done to the plants.

* * *

Across the alleyway, when Gaara felt no living soul, except his siblings, was looking, he allowed his signature bloodthirsty smile to paint his face. There was something about Uzumaki Naruto that made him feel so alive.

Shukaku wanted –no… screamed was a better word- for his blood, something Gaara never experienced before. Naruto also done something that no other human being did, and that was to stare him in the eyes with no fear, even as his own Bloodline Limit was going at full force.

Jikiton (Magnet Release), an ability gifted to the containers of Ichibi no Shukaku and passed on to their children, was originally used by the Sandaime Kazekage. All men from Suna would've shit themselves if they felt it, but that blond just answered the call of intimidation by letting out more of his power, whether it was pure ignorance or just stupidity.

He licked his lips in anticipation, making Kankuro and Temari become nervous. Naruto and he were going to meet again; he would make sure of it.

"He's got that look again," Kankuro whispered to his sister.

Kill Joy no Jutsu (A.K.A. Author's Note): Whew, this chapter came out much faster than I anticipated, but this could be attested to President's Day weekend. Is it just me or isn't it supposed to be longer than three days? 'Cuz if so, than that really sucks for me.

Chunin exam has started and you all know what that means, we'll be seeing our favorite weirdo of a snake here in a couple chapters. That's when things will get interesting. It will also reveal the final ability of the Kyoukagan, since a lot of you have wanted there to be more than just copying. Don't worry, it won't make him god like but it will bring some interesting fights in the future.

As for Naruto moving in with Anko, we'll be seeing some interesting things happening in the future from this.

Now for the last part, many of you have begged and begged that Gaara get the _Iron Sand_ abilities of Sandaime Kazekage. I have delivered and I hope you enjoy as it only makes Gaara a much fiercer opponent, especially in the later fights. If you don't know, and Chiyo specially hints at it, is that the Iron Sand itself isn't the Limit, but rather the weapon the Limit can make use of. The old lady also once mentioned that _anything metal_ could easily put a person at a serious disadvantage with the battle against Sandaime Kazekage. Hearing this, I went from there to create this particular Limit.

I'm also planning to introduce one more original Limit later on. I would like to thank A Common Hero for coming up with it and I look forward to adding it in somehow. It was really genius.

Let me remind you all that _**there are no confirmed pairings!**_It may look like I may go one way, but keep in mind that I could easily pull a one-eighty out of my ass and do something completely different. The pairings will be confirmed in my sequel, until then, don't get your underwear in a wad.

Now that we're all done with that, let's hit the original Limits.

Original Limits:

Jikiton (Magnet Release) - Elemental- A Bloodline Limit native to Suna and was originally used by the containers of Shukaku and their descendants. The most avid users of it recorded so far are Gaara and the Sandaime Kazekage. This Limit is famous for being one of the very few Limits found in Suna.

It is used by transforming one's chakra into magnetic forces that easily control metals of various kinds in a wide range, most commonly nickel, iron, and other magnetically capable minerals. Jikiton is highly devastating, especially against ninja who use iron based weapons, as it controls metal. It also allows the use of the highly powerful weapon _Iron Sand_, especially if one wants maximum results of destruction.

Jikiton is earth and lightning chakra based, but like Mokuton, it does not have a dominant element, making it an oddity among Elemental Limits.


	9. Black Nightshades, White Snakes

**Chapter 9- Black Nightshades, White Snakes**

"As you all know," Sarutobi began to inform the crowd of jounin in his office, "the time has come once again for our biannual Chunin exam. If any of you wish to allow your genin to enter, all you need to do is stand."

Kakashi and Yamato had been in heated discussion about it since yesterday on whether or not they should enter their team. Though the group was above what an average genin team, Naruto and Sakura were fledgling Bloodline users with no clan to teach them, especially Naruto since he still had a tender grasp of what he could do. Either way, it still would be a good experience for them.

"I, Hatake Kakashi," said the scarecrow as he stood up, "nominate Team Seven for the exam."

"As secondary team captain," the _Mokuton_ user said as he joined the masked man, "I second that notion."

Maito Gai was not going to take that rolling over. If his rival was going to enter his students, then he would as well.

"I, Maito Gai," the Green Beast yelled in his usual manner, "nominate Team Nine for the Chunin exam!"

"I, Sarutobi Asuma," the chain smoker said, getting in on the action, "nominate Team Ten."

"I'm going to do the same," Kurenai stood up as well. "I nominate Team Eight for the exam."

Everyone raised eyebrows and the chatter among the senior ninjas began as they heard three rookie teams heading to the Chunin exams, something nobody in their right mind would do. Sarutobi even followed the crowd in surprise. It looked like the exam was going to be very interesting to watch this year, especially since Naruto was going to be there.

"Are you sure that is smart, Kakashi?" all the occupants turned their heads towards the origin of the voice, finding Mitarashi Anko leaning on the doorway with her arms crossed. "Do you really think your team is ready? I know this exam inside and out and it's never pretty."

The silver-haired man knew what she was leading onto. He knew how close the woman and Naruto became and it didn't come as a surprise to see there was an underlying sense of worry, which only got worse when you added the _Kyoukagan_ into the mixture. She had every right to worry, but it was an experience his team needed.

Kurenai was also caught off guard by Anko worrying about a particular team and suggesting them to stop. If anything, the crazy lady should be licking her chops at the thought of messing around with a bunch of rookies. She, in all honesty, thought for sure Iruka would be the first to try to deny a rookie team a chance to take the exam, not the psychopath.

"You surprise me," Kakashi said in his usual lazy manner. "I thought for sure you'd enjoy it."

"I have my reasons," the purple-haired woman replied.

"Yes, I imagine you do," the man told her, lacing his voice with finality, "but they are my team and I'm the one that makes the call. Besides, you need more faith in them; they're very capable."

Anko knew she was fighting an uphill battle that was only going to get steadily worse the more she tried to push. She was already simmering on the inside at the thought of her surrogate little brother coming into harm's way, but she could only begin to imagine how much hell Iruka was going to raise once he got whiff of this.

"Your funeral," she muttered under her breath just enough for the Kakashi to hear.

Hearing that, Kakashi immediately knew he had opened up a can of worms with Iruka.

* * *

Even though there was not a single cloud in the sky, Konoha's skies were being lit up by a light show of epic proportions, a side effect of the lightning bolts coming from a nearby training area.

If one were to take a closer look at what was going on, the person would see a wide eyed, silver-haired man running around while dodging the mad electricity, all of which was coming from a thoroughly pissed, scarred man with hair in the style of a pineapple. Two other jounin watched the action, one a woman and the other a male with a headpiece. The male spectator watched with a hint of amusement, but the female on the other hand wore an upset look that seemed almost as if she wanted the victim to suffer severe electrocution.

"YOU IDIOT, DO NOT GIVE THOSE FORMS TO THEM!" Iruka shouted, allowing his _Hyakurai_ full freedom.

Kakashi was willing to admit that the normally docile man could be _very_ dangerous when mad, especially when Naruto's safety was thrown into the mixture.

"Could I _please_ explain!?" Kakashi tried to reason as he dodged a lightning bolt that came too close.

"You got five seconds!" Iruka shouted, suppressing his Limit to allow the copy-cat to explain himself.

"I'm doing this to get my team some experience," Kakashi said, trying his best not to figuratively step on any thin ice –or in this case: a set of dangling power lines. "You know as well as I do it'd be good for them to see other ninja and not just keep doing these missions. It'll give them a reason to get stronger."

"What about Naruto?" Iruka asked, narrowing his eyes. "If any ninja from another country finds out about the _Kyoukagan_, a lot of things could happen. It's too risky."

"Yes, I would agree," the silver haired jounin replied, taking a cautious step backwards "but Naruto would also be able to copy many more Bloodlines at the same time. It would only make him stronger. Besides, if anyone finds out…"

He jumped out of the way with his single eye the size of a dinner plate as another lightning strike hit where he formerly stood. Kakashi couldn't tell, but he had a gut feeling that particular bolt was aimed for his manhood.

"…If anyone finds out," Iruka finished for him, charging the air with a massive amount of chakra as his temper started to get shorter, "the Fourth Great Shinobi War could begin! It's too much of a temptation for other countries to kidnap him, and there is no way in hell I'm going to let anyone near him!"

"He does have a point," Yamato announced as he raised his index finger in the air, attracting everyone's attention. "Think about it for a minute; Naruto adapts. It may seem like something simple at first glance, but the way he's learning the Bloodline Limits… it's at a speed that none of us could've dreamed. His _Hyouton_ is already at a high level as it is already. Why not throw a couple more things out there for him to grasp?"

Iruka slowly picked apart everything he had heard. Yamato made a point. The way Naruto adapted and grasped learning Limits; he was like a sponge. His growth rate surpassed so many people his age that they were starting to have a trouble trying to keep pace with him.

Kakashi stood nearby on antsy toes, ready to dodge another lightning bolt in case. Lightning may be fast, but a copy-cat that was being targeted by said source of energy was faster, especially when it was a piece of his anatomy at stake –he still couldn't tell, but he was willing to bet money with Gai that Iruka was aiming for his testicles.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity in Shingami's stomach, Iruka sighed in defeat. The scarecrow was about to relax, but went back on guard as the teacher walked up to him, a threatening smile on his face that made Anko proud.

When he walked up to his face, Iruka gave his warning that sent a chill down the silver haired man's back. "If he gets a single scratch, I will not kill you. Instead I will grab your head and send every voltage my body can create through your face, and after I'm done with you, not even your mask will keep your face from melting off your head."

Anko let a Cheshire cat grin come across her face as she heard a warning that done her so proud. She really was beginning to rub off onto Iruka.

Yamato, on the other hand, just sighed. This is what happened when dealing with other ninja that thought of the blond as their sibling. Both of them wanted nothing more to protect their little brother, even if it meant torturing the idiot stupid enough to harm him.

* * *

Naruto sat at Ichiraku's as he waited for his ramen, thinking about what he had seen with Gaara earlier that day. _Jikiton_… it was powerful, enough so to maybe rival _Hyakurai_ at full release. Ice and Wood were powerful and had strengths many other elements didn't, but Magnetism had so many advantages it wasn't funny.

"Here you go Naruto," Ayame said as she put Naruto's normally large serving of his favorite comfort food in front of him. "How you've been lately?"

"Pretty good," the sun-kissed boy answered as he broke his chopsticks and began to take a couple test bites of his food.

"That's good," Ayame said as she leaned on the counter. "I'm glad to see that so many people are now looking out for you."

He stopped his eating as he took in what she'd said. It was true. Compared to when he was at the academy, so many more people had become precious to him. Yamato, Anko, Kakashi, maybe Sasuke and Sakura, and Haku when he had been alive. A sad smile painted his face as he saw how things were beginning to slowly change.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," he said as he dug into his ramen.

Ayame shook her head at his table manners and walked back into the restaurant to help her father.

Naruto was just about to finish his second bowl when it hit him. His _Kyoukagan_ picked up a signature nearby and ready to pass by. He spun around on his seat as he tried to decipher whether it was someone he knew or if it was someone completely foreign. It wasn't _Jikiton_ –Gaara had a bloodlust mixed in with the feeling- as a matter of fact, it wasn't even any that he had ever sensed before.

After a couple seconds, the crowds moved out of the way of his eyes, greeting him to the sight that made his mouth drop and all the ramen noodles in there fall out as well.

The owner of the Limit was walking beside two of his classmates he recognized as Shino and Kiba, alongside a female Jounin he couldn't identify. Alabaster skin, navy-blue hair, about the same height as him, and wearing a fur lined jacket. No, it wasn't those traits that made his mouth drop; it was the fact that she was a girl, and a very pretty one at that. What really caught his eyes, though, were her moon-like eyes, a Doujutsu he had never seen before.

The girl stopped as she felt a set of eyes on her, a second sense she learned from being watched by her family so much. She turned, and the moment she did a ruby blush crossed her face. Naruto, her idol, was staring at her and with his mouth slightly agape at that.

She didn't know how to react to that, so she did what instinct told her to do: squeak and then hurry away ahead her team.

"Whoa!" Kiba shouted as Hinata speed-walked ahead of him. "What's the matter Hinata?"

The said girl didn't answer the question and just kept walking. Kurenai looked back to see what spooked her student and felt her eyebrows shoot past her hairline as she saw a curious Naruto trying to look past the crowds of people. Was he being curious about her student?

Before she could answer her question, a platinum-haired girl that she recognized as a Yamanaka stomped past her, looking outright agitated.

Naruto saw her as well and paled in horror. Whatever happened was somehow linked to him; and whatever it was must've pissed Enma off enough to unleash his worst demon. Hell would freeze over before he stuck around for this.

"I'M INNOCENT!" Naruto shouted as he took off like a fox that caught sight of a pissed-off bloodhound.

"GET BACK HERE! WE'RE GOING TO HAVE A REMATCH!" Ino shouted as she began to chase her quarry.

"No way! It's my day off; I'm not wasting it!" he shouted back to her, not paying attention to where he was going.

Kurenai watched the exchange and tried to figure out what that had been, but instead settled for shrugging her shoulder. When she thought back at the thought of Naruto getting curious about her student, she thought of how cute it was. Maybe she could get it to where the two could meet up…

* * *

Naruto turned the corner with the hopes of losing his tracker, but instead ran into a hand that gripped him by the neck. Naruto regretted looking at the face of his capturer, his eyes meeting the wine-colored ones of his surrogate big sister and house mate, Anko, with an evil grin that didn't bode well with him.

Ino turned the corner and immediately stopped as she saw who got her target before she did. She gulped as she recognized her father's coworker.

"Somebody, save me! Anybody!" Naruto shouted as he tried to pry her grip off.

He looked towards Ino with hope, only to have it shattered under his feet as she shook her head and stared at him as if she was staring at a funeral about to take place.

"You don't have to be so dramatic," a male voice jokingly chastised as the owner stepped next to the crazy kunoichi, revealing Iruka with an amused smile. "I think you should let him go; you're scaring him and it's already bad enough he's living with you."

Anko thought about it for a minute and then finally let go. "Yeah, you're right."

Both them turned their attention to the other present blonde to see her with a look that was a cross between being caught in front of a set of headlights and sheer fear.

"What brings you here, Ino?" Iruka kindly asked.

"Nothing," she squeaked and then ran away as if the devil was chasing after her.

As she was running away, she couldn't help but repeat in her mind what she heard. _He's living with that crazy bitch?!_ She shouted in her mind. It was going to have to be another day before she could finish that match.

Naruto muttered something about a 'crazy-ass bitch' as he turned to the two.

"You wouldn't be talking about me would you?" Anko almost looked touched.

"I wasn't talking about you, and besides, it would be giving you too much credit," Naruto told her as he crossed his arms, inwardly proud he had delivered that pun without getting his face beaten in like normal. Anko actually blinked in slight shock as she realized that set of words was intended for Ino.

"So, what're you guys doing here?" the blond questioned while putting his hands on the back of his head.

"What does it look like we're doing?" Anko answered as she put her hands on her hips. "Iruka and I are going to take you shopping."

"Huh?" Naruto intelligently asked.

Iruka shook his head as he felt the weight of explaining it in a bit more detail. "Something came up, and because of it you need new clothes."

Naruto stared at his former teacher as if he had grown two heads and then busted out laughing. Iruka frowned, but said nothing. Anko just wore an evil smile –she loved to rain on her little brother's parade.

The blond looked at the two again and saw how they were still being serious. "Oh. You're guys are being serious?"

"Uh, yeah," Anko answered as she leaned forward with a toothy grin.

"Um, could we please talk about this?" Naruto pleaded as he nervously smiled, taking a step backwards. If they wanted the orange jumpsuit off, they were going to have to chase him and rip it off.

"You don't have a say in the matter," Anko continued, standing up straight once more to take in how much work they needed to do. "Safety orange to ninjas is not very safe. So were going to remedy that."

He pointed a pleading shock-filled look to Iruka hoping his former teacher would save him, only to see the man stood behind every word the witch had spoken.

_NOOOOOOOOOO!_ Naruto shouted in his mind.

* * *

Sakura walked to bridge and sighed in satisfaction as she sat on the railing. She spent the rest of the day yesterday working on a new _Kinzokuton_ technique. The attack was incomplete and required chakra that she didn't have yet. She now had just enough chakra to pull out at least one poled weapon, her favorite naturally being the spear.

Her eyes traveled to a nearby tree, casting her sight on the last Uchiha lazily reclining on a branch. What piqued her curiosity was the package he was holding under one of his arms.

"Hey Sasuke-kun!" she greeted while waving her hand. "Is that what you needed to pick up yesterday?"

He nodded his head and then leapt from his perch. Before she could ask what he was doing, he walked up to her and held out the item, looking away in slight embarrassment, though not enough to stain his cheeks any shade of red.

"What is this for?" she asked, unsure what the occasion was.

"I had it made for you when I learned you were learning kinjutsu," he simply answered.

Allowing her curiosity to get the better of her, she took the package. Sasuke looked back at her to see what her reaction would be –gift giving was something still relatively new to him.

Sakura opened it and felt her eyes widen in surprise at what was contained in the long box. It was a katana, and one that looked to be expensive. The hilt was a simple gold color while the handle was wrapped in a pale pink binding. A golden tassel hung off the end; over all, the katana was actually very pretty.

On the inside, she didn't know what to do. Swords weren't her forte, but she didn't want Sasuke to get hung over getting her the wrong thing. Sakura smiled as she looked at her idol; it looked as if swords were going to become her favorite for now on.

"Thank you," she softly told him, earning a slight scowl from him, but at the same time tinting his cheeks a very light pink.

"Your… welcome," he told her as he leapt back into his tree. Those were some of the most foreign words to ever slip past his lips.

Sakura didn't say anything, but continued to smile. She could tell Sasuke was a little new to things like this, but it didn't matter to her; he was kind enough to get her a little something.

After a couple minutes both of them felt the presence of another person. They turned to the newcomer to find someone they almost didn't recognize had it not been for his blond hair and whisker marks. Naruto looked pissed, but they attuned it to the fact he wasn't wearing his usual ugly orange jumpsuit.

In place of his old clothes was a black jacket he left unzipped, revealing a chain mail shirt with a red vest that was full of pockets for various items. He wore a set of black cargo pants with his kunai pouch where it would've been if he still wore his orange pants. To top off his look, he had red metal plated gloves with Konoha leaf on it along with a new set of red sandals. The only remaining piece of his old outfit was the goggles across his eyes.

"What the hell happened to you?" Sasuke questioned, curious as to what changed Naruto's sense of fashion.

"Anko and Iruka-sensei," he muttered and then pouted.

It was with effort, but after a long struggle the two managed to get their surrogate little brother to take off the jumpsuit –more like it was Anko tackling and holding him down while Iruka took off his clothes and used a low level fire jutsu to burn them right in front of Naruto's eyes. He later erected a gravestone for his favorite clothes when the two weren't around.

It was then that Naruto took notice of his teammate's new katana.

"Cool katana, Sakura-chan!" he said with a smile. "Where'd you get it?"

Sakura blushed lightly as she held her new sword closer. "Sasuke-kun got it for me."

It didn't surprise her how Naruto's foxy smile was quickly replaced by one of shock. He numbly looked to Sasuke and saw his teammate not even paying attention to their conversation.

Until the time their sensei arrived, the blond prankster was for once at a lost for words. Sasuke _never_ gave anyone a present! What had brought this about!? If the dick-head was starting to fall in love with his crush then he'd have absolutely no chance to win her over!

His day was now sucking. First, he had to wear new clothes Iruka and Anko had bought him, and now he was beginning to lose the race for Sakura's love. What else could go wrong?!

Before he could answer his own question, two puffs of smoke blanketed the area, signaling the arrival of their senseis, Yamato and Kakashi.

"Yo!" greeted Kakashi with a lazy wave of his hand.

"We have some good news," Yamato told them as he walked up to the group. Before he could tell them what it was, he noticed the new duds that Naruto was sporting and the katana Sakura was holding. He first decided to guess what happened to the _Kyoukagan_ user. "Let me guess: it was Anko and Iruka."

Naruto nodded and sniffled. "They burned my jumpsuit in front of me."

Yamato then turned to Sakura. "A katana? I thought you liked to use spears and the like."

Sakura winced as she heard Sasuke slip off of his tree and then land into the water. As soon as Naruto heard the splash and looked to see what happened, he fell off the railing and onto the bridge laughing. Kakashi raised an eyebrow, but had an idea where Sakura got the sword from.

"Sasuke has been teaching me how to use them," Sakura answered meekly with a blush.

"Oh," Yamato said. He waited until Sasuke walked back onto the bridge –sopping wet and moodier than normal- to give them the message. "Anyways, Kakashi-senpai and I have signed you all up for the Chunin exams."

Naruto stopped his snickering and looked at his teachers as if someone said he was getting free ramen for life. Sasuke heard it and his bad mood instantly disappeared, but Sakura, on the other hand, began to look nervous.

"Now," Kakashi began to explain. "It's completely optional for you guys. If you want to do it, show up. Keep in mind that you don't have to, but I highly suggest you do because it will give you experience you need."

The blond felt like he hit pay dirt and smiled as if he really did. This meant people from other countries were coming and that meant a _lot_ of Bloodline Limits for him to copy. His grin widened as his imagination took over, giving him random daydreams of what he was going to see.

"You all have the rest of the day off," Yamato continued where his former captain left off. "This is so you can think about it and if you want to partake in it, and so you can prepare as well. If you decide to do it, head to the academy."

Sasuke nodded his head and made sure to not subconsciously pocket his sheet knowing the water in his clothes would ruin it. As he walked away, his bad mood returned as he remembered he got Sakura the wrong type of weapon. What a way to screw things up…

Sakura left as well, frowning as she decided what to do. She was the weakest of the group after all, and she wanted to do her best to not drag her teammates down.

Naruto was about to leap away to tell Iruka what happened, but was halted as Kakashi's voice stopped him. "Naruto, Anko and Iruka know about this already. I think that's why they got you the new clothes."

"How'd they know!?" he yelled as he turned around.

"Anko was present at the meeting," Tenzo answered.

"Oh."

"Now," Kakashi cleared his throat, "for various reasons, I haven't been able to teach you how to properly use _Byaku Chakra_ and at the least I would like to teach you to saturate the air with it. It is the basis for my stronger taijutsu form, and the cloud itself has many uses you might find handy."

"Like what?" Naruto asked, not bothering to hold back the excitement in his voice.

"Oh, like the extra sense of touch I told you about back at the Land of Waves, the ability to mess over some Doujutsu like the _Sharingan_," hearing that, Naruto was already bouncing on the balls of his feet at the thought of pounding Sasuke into the dirt, "and to be able to increase the power of you jutsu."

Naruto had enough as he bowed before his teacher and held out his hands. "TEACH ME!"

Yamato shook his head as Kakashi eye smiled. It was always a wild ride to teach Naruto.

* * *

It was nightfall and already Naruto was a happy camper. He was currently headed to Anko's apartment so he could prepare for tomorrow. This was going to be his chance to take one step closer to becoming the Hokage.

Controlling the chakra cloud was actually harder than it looked. Byaku Chakra when outside of the body was practically an extension of one's senses, and because of that, he needed to learn how to make it stop dissipating; otherwise, it'd be nothing more than a waste. It was difficult in the first place, though, since Naruto's reserves were so high it didn't feel like it was a strain on him.

Just as he landed on a rooftop, he stopped as he felt his _Kyoukagan's_ sensing capabilities going off. His eyes shifted as he stood stock still, searching for the person.

He recognized the unique signature of an Elemental Limit mixed with bloodlust anywhere. What the hell was that guy doing here?

"Come out, Gaara," Naruto ordered as he turned to where it was originating from. "It's not hard for me to sense you."

From behind a cooling duct, a cascade of sand attempted to engulf him. Naruto's eyes widened briefly as he saw it, but then got his bearings straight at the last second as he leapt out of the way. He growled as he felt some of the sand cling to him like parasites, prompting him to wipe it off.

Gaara stepped out of his hiding place, his emotionless eyes keeping Naruto within his sight. The blond watched with horrid fascination as the sand returned to the gourd the boy had strapped to his back and then to be plugged by a large cork.

It was then all the metal began to come to life, slowly crawling towards Gaara as if he was a super magnet. Naruto shattered his eyes and quickly changed to _Hyakurai_, allowing his electricity full reign. It was obviously something that the redhead wanted because his face split into a bloodthirsty grin.

"You need to calm down," Naruto told him with a smirk. "Mind telling me what brought this about?"

"Are you going to take the exam?" Gaara questioned.

"Yeah."

"Good." Naruto could feel the strain pulling his weapons to Gaara suddenly stop, signaling he turned off the _Jikiton_. "It looks like I don't have to kill you right now."

"That's going to help me sleep better tonight," the whisker-faced boy sarcastically said. "And what if I had not chosen to take the exam?"

"I would have killed you right here. I don't understand why, but Mother calls for your blood more than any other person."

"Huh?" Naruto tried to ask, looking confused as he tried to decipher what the boy across from him said. "Who's this 'Mother'?"

"The demon inside of my head: Shukaku, the Incarnate of Sand," Gaara coldly answered.

Gaara slowly turned away and began to walk across the rooftop. Naruto made an attempt to call out to him and ask him to explain more, but the words were caught in his throat a growl echoed from the back of his mind. Kyuubi evidently had a bone to pick with this guy, but as to what reason, he didn't have a clue.

This Gaara… just the thought of him unsettled Naruto. There was something about him, an air of familiarity, but the alikeness stopped at the aura of bloodlust the redhead bathed himself in. Everything in his being screamed at Naruto to stay away, but he knew that there was going to be an encounter in the future.

After he watched the Suna genin leave, Naruto slowly turned around to continue his journey home. He couldn't tell why, but he had a feeling tonight was going to be one those nights.

* * *

His fear of it being 'one of those nights' was not unfounded as he found himself in a hallway of silvery water and broken mirrors. Naruto always hated the feeling of walking inside his mindscape. It was like walking through a mirror house at a carnival, only there was demon at the end of the road.

With a sigh, he waded through the shin deep water, following the red glow to the antechamber. It seemed like such a short walk this time, but he could attest that to the fact he been here a couple times, most of which involved a nightmare of some kind.

"If you had accepted my offer," a voice rung through the huge room. "I wouldn't give you them."

He scowled as the redhead walked out of the shadows, wearing a mischievous smile that seemed to be malicious as well somehow.

"The nightmares that is," she continued as she put her hands against the clear barrier. "How about you walk a little closer?"

"How about hell no?" Naruto told her as he stopped a good distance away. "What do you want bitch?"

"How rude!" She crossed her arms and looked away like a child made upset by something a parent said. "I was going to let you in on a little info, but after that, I might just go away."

"Wouldn't that be nice," the blond muttered to himself. "You're about as mature as that Gaara guy."

Out of the corner of her eyes, she peered at him with a piercing gaze that seemed to peer at him for an eternity. Naruto could see the pure hatred practically cascading from her eyes like a waterfall. Slowly, she turned her head to him and walked up to the barrier, slowly pressing her forehead and setting her hands against it.

Naruto could then feel the entirety of the room become saturated with a killer intent so great the air became distorted. It became hard to breathe, a cold sweat covered the back of his neck, and all of his limbs locked up. His wide eyes slowly looked to his prisoner watching as her form slowly changed like it did whenever she got angry or mischievous.

Kyuubi's cat-like, glowing eyes narrowed dangerously as her hair became messy and her nails lengthened to become claws. Slowly, a fox shape aura began to surround her, until a single tail made of chakra angrily swayed from behind her.

"**Do not think so low of me."** Her voice became backwards and almost sounded as if she was underwater. **"Do not ever compare me to that trash, or any lower being for that matter. If you do, I won't be as friendly."**

Kyuubi angrily struck the barrier, making Naruto fall onto his bottom and into the cold water. After that, the aura began to dissipate, lifting the killer intent in the air. It wouldn't do for her to lose control; otherwise, she might lose her sex appeal, making it all the more difficult to bring her container any closer to setting her free.

Despite her fear tactics, Naruto merely stood up and stared her in the eyes. He didn't fear her and nothing she was willing to pull was going to change that simple fact. And she knew it as well, and narrowed her eyes even more.

"Quit playing the hero," she simply said. Without another word, she turned around and began to walk back into the darkness.

"Didn't you have something to tell me?" Naruto asked, still wearing his serious look. When he was around Kyuubi, it was never a time to be goofy and carefree like normal.

She lazily looked over her shoulder at him and grunted. "Watch out for that Suna kid. He's the container of Ichibi no Shukaku. First chance he can, he'll feed you to his sand."

"Ichibi no Shukaku?" Naruto repeated to himself as he looked down to the water in thought. "You mean a tailed beast like you?"

When he looked back, he found her already gone. Even her normally glowing crimson eyes couldn't be seen. He smirked knowing that he must've really pissed her off this time. Comparing her to Gaara was like comparing her to Shukaku, a demon weaker and more psychotic than her. It was obvious she didn't like to be called weak.

The world around twisted and lurched, signaling the end of his escapade. The blond was very thankful his visit with Kyuubi was faster than any of his past visits. Maybe it was because he pissed her off so much she wanted to get rid of him; if that was so, every time he could, he was going to press her buttons.

Naruto looked to his alarm clock to see that it was still early in the morning. More than enough time to meet up with his team.

* * *

Sasuke leaned on the front wall of the academy as he patiently waited for his teammates. Today was the first part of the Chunin exams, and he hadn't wanted to be late.

He was still simmering on the inside over the fact he didn't get Sakura something that better suited her fighting style. All night long he banged his head against a wall with the hopes that maybe the pain would dislodge the embarrassing memory from his head.

He looked up the path to see Naruto walking towards him with a game face on: a foxy smile that announced to every living person that he was going to kick everyone's ass. A prideful and arrogant little bastard the blond was, mainly in Sasuke's mind, because to him, the Dobe would always be just that: a dead last.

"Morning, dick head," Naruto greeted with a wave of his hand.

"Bird shit," Sasuke countered coolly.

"Ah, Sasuke got jokes today." The blond smiled as he came up to him, still wearing the clothes he sported the day before, including the goggles that infuriated Sasuke to this day.

Naruto turned back to the path he formerly walked from as his Limit sensed the only _Kinzokuton_ user alive, walking towards them with her katana strapped to her back.

"I decided," Sakura took in a deep breath as she continued, "that I'm going to do this as well. I just hope I don't hold you guys back."

"Great!" Naruto shouted.

The team quickly walked up to the door with Naruto excitedly rushing ahead to be the first to open it. As he grasped the door handle, he could already feel the adrenaline running through his body as his _Kyoukagan_ sensed all of the Bloodline Limits practically begging to be copied.

"Well, hurry up and open the door!" Sakura shouted.

He obeyed and as the door swung open, the small group felt their mouths drop at how many people were there waiting to take the exam. There were people from Ame, Kusa, and so many other countries he had yet to hear about. It slightly upset Naruto to not see any Kiri ninja there, since maybe someone would have info on the place Haku had at one time hailed from.

The large number of people there also brought a problem he hadn't anticipated. He couldn't copy anybody without someone at least seeing his activated eyes just once. This wasn't what he originally planned. The prankster sighed knowing he wasn't going to get away with copying.

After several seconds, Naruto began to aimlessly walk through the area, attempting to sense where Gaara might be, but as he did, he sensed the familiar signatures of people with the same Bloodline Limit as the pretty girl he saw. Though, the major difference was all of them were pretty darn smug, especially the one towards…

Before he could home in on the guy, Sakura abruptly snatched his arm and dragged him like a mother trying to keep track of a troublesome little child.

"Idiot! Come on, I found where we're suppose to go!" she told him, bringing him to a door guarded by two Chunin.

At the moment, Naruto finally sensed Gaara's location, one story above them and in a different room than the one Sakura was leading to. Naruto abruptly jerked his arm free, catching Sakura and Sasuke off guard.

"That's not the right door," he told them.

"What makes you think that?" Sasuke asked him.

Naruto tried to figure out an excuse as his extra sense began to scan over the floor Gaara was. That was where the most Bloodline Limit users were located. He had to prevent himself from softly smiling as he sensed the familiar signature of the girl from the other day.

"Well?" Sakura rushed him.

He readied himself to throw out something, but stopped as he saw the sight of familiar Chinese buns. From his distance, Naruto could see she was struggling to get through the door, obviously thinking it was the real one.

"Hey, Tenten!" he shouted, waving his hand and putting on a friendly smile.

The said girl turned around and smiled as well when she saw him. "Oh! Hey, Naruto!"

"Hate to tell you, but this is the wrong room," he told her as he came up to her.

"Oh, I know, we were just pretending," Tenten informed. "We wanted to look weaker, you know, to hide how strong we really are."

"Smart idea."

The two guards looked at each other and then turned back to the kids walking up to them. That wasn't what they needed; now everyone and their dog (no pun intended for the Inuzaka clan) were going to head to the second floor now!

"Do you know this person, flower of my team?" a weird guy asked Tenten as the blond finished walking up to them.

Naruto turned to him, and immediately he wanted to grow a tree with his _Mokuton_ and then use a stick from it to gouge out his eyes. Who in there right mind would wear such ugly clothing?! A green jumpsuit, orange leg warmers, a bowl cut, among other things, made up this guy. Even then, none of it could prepare him for the sight of the eyebrows, so large, so hairy it looked as if twin azalea bushes were growing from his eyes.

"Of course I do," answered Tenten to the ugly genin. "This is Uzumaki Naruto; he comes to my family's shop. Naruto, this is my teammate, Rock Lee."

Before Naruto could say properly say hello, the green-clad youth was already upon him, shaking his hand so rapidly the blond swore he was going to get whiplash.

"It is a pleasure to meet such a youthful friend of my teammate!" Lee excitedly greeted.

"You were right," Sasuke told Naruto as he walked up, his _Sharingan_ fully active. The words felt like poison to him, but he had to give it to his annoying teammate this time around. "The door's number is covered with a simple genjutsu."

The two guards looked at each and quickly turned ugly as they rounded on the group before them. "How annoying," one of them said. "We were trying to separate the good from the weak, but you guys kind of ruined it. Looks like we're going to have to staple those mouths of yours shut."

One of the guys rushed forward to attack the nearest person, which happened to be Naruto. Seeing the oncoming attack, the sun-kissed boy wound up his own kick. Just as the attacks were going to meet, they were both stopped by Lee.

"Holy crap!" Sakura shouted. "I didn't even see him move."

Lee let go of his new friend's leg, but as soon as Naruto's foot touched the ground, his eyes narrowed. Before anyone could react, he pulled out a senbon and threw the needle at high speeds behind himself, hitting a guy that jumped backwards.

The newcomer had long, flowing ebony hair, but his eyes were what caught Naruto's attention: he had the same doujutsu that the shy girl had. The major difference between the girl and him: his were far more harsh and unfriendly, and also carried an 'I'm-better-than-you' attitude.

"So you're that uptight, smug asshole I keep sensing," Naruto announced to him as he pulled out three more senbon and placed them in between his fingers. "You know it's not nice to sneak around right?"

"You're quite the arrogant one, aren't you?" the guy told him as he pulled out the needle. He quickly got into a stance Naruto didn't recognize, but the blond wasn't going to get left behind as he took a basic stance of the _Wraith Fist Style._

"Whoa, hold the show!" Tenten shouted as she got in between the two. She turned to Naruto first with a slightly embarrassed smile. "Sorry, Naruto, but this is my other teammate, Hyuga Neji." She then turned to the now named Neji. "Neji, this is Uzumaki Naruto; he comes to our shop a lot."

Naruto was the first to relax, putting his pulled out senbon back into their case. "Since you're Tenten's teammate I'll leave you alone for the moment."

Neji snorted as he turned to Tenten and Lee. "I told you guys that we aren't supposed to attract attention. We might as well head up to the next floor now since everybody is going to be aware of this now."

Team Seven watched Team Nine walk away, at least getting a good-bye wave for Naruto from Tenten and an over exuberant parting from Lee.

"What a prick," Naruto muttered to himself. "He makes you look all warm and cozy."

The blond pointed his thumb at Sasuke, earning a growl, but nothing else -it wasn't a good moment to kill Naruto and make a show.

They followed the route the older team took and climbed up the stairs to the second floor. Their sight was greeted once more with the green jumpsuit of Rock Lee, who had a determined, fiery look in his eyes.

"I challenge you, Uchiha Sasuke," Lee announced as he got into a stance, "so that we may find out who is the true genius: me, a genius of hard work, or you: a natural genius, like Neji. And I would like to prove my love for Sakura-chan at the same time."

He blushed as he blew a kiss towards Sakura who squealed in horror as she jumped behind her crush for safety.

"Nasty!" she yelled as she pointed at Lee from her crush's back.

"Alright, I'll…" Sasuke tried to agree.

He was interrupted as Naruto stepped forward, wearing a grin. "I want to fight you as well."

Lee smiled as he relaxed. "I'm sorry Naruto-kun, but I must fight another genius in order to prove that we who struggle can be just as great."

Naruto cocked his head to the side as he tried to figure out what the older genin was talking about. "What is a 'genius of hard work,' and what do you mean by 'we who struggle'?"

Green Beast Jr. smiled as he answered, glad he could explain. "There are two types of geniuses: the natural born kind, and those that work hard for what they have. I'm a genius of hard work because I train so hard with the hopes that I'll be able to fight as good as a natural genius."

"Well," Naruto began with a foxy smile, "how about a battle between geniuses of hard work. We're a lot alike; I had to work hard for all that I know." Naruto took a basic _Wraith Fist_ stance and shattered his eyes, readying his _Byaku Chakra_, mainly because he didn't want Sasuke to copy his moves. "It would be rude to turn down such a fight."

It got what Naruto wanted as Lee's smile turned ten miles wide. "Yes," he said as he got into his own stance, "it would be rude."

Sasuke was miffed that Naruto was getting to fight early, but settled for using his _Sharingan_ to copy anything they'd show. Sensing a chakra spike from the Uchiha, Naruto let loose a cloud of _Byaku Chakra_, invisible to the naked eye, but as bright as a sun to a Doujutsu. It gave him satisfaction to see Sasuke look taken back at the sight of it.

"What the hell?" the Uchiha asked himself.

"What's wrong?" Sakura asked.

"There's a chakra cloud surrounding Naruto; it's making it hard to read him. Wait, is that chakra white?!" he said leaning forward with a disbelieving look.

"What?!" Sakura asked.

The two then turned to the two combatants as their battle went underway. Lee charged forward first, faster than the human eye could track. Much to the surprise of Sakura and Sasuke, Naruto blocked the attack, only increasing the size Lee's smile. The older genin disappeared once more, but was suddenly blocked by Naruto's arm again. Before he could get away, Naruto grabbed his wrist and sent a punch into Lee's cheek, sending the boy backwards.

Rock Lee slowly stood up, rubbing where Naruto had decked him a good one. Even with such a hit, he continued to smile.

"It seems I have underestimated you, Naruto-kun," Lee said as he took another stance. "I shouldn't hold back so much anymore, it would be just as rude as turning down a battle with you."

Just as Naruto was about to ask him what he meant, he was sent flying across the hallway, courtesy of Lee who was standing in the spot the Uzumaki formerly occupied with a leg arced up into the air. Naruto quickly did a handstand as he landed, but just as he was getting ready to correct himself, another kick was sent into his stomach, launching him into the wall and cracking it from behind him.

Lee bounced on the balls of his feet as he watched Naruto step up and take another stance for battle.

_I'm going to have to add chakra to my muscles if I want to keep up,_ Naruto thought to his self. Thankfully, he had a huge reserve of the spiritual energy at his disposal.

He added _Byaku Chakra_ to his muscles and, faster than before, charged at Lee, taking his turn on offense. Naruto sent a flurry of kicks at Lee, giving him hits harder and faster than ever. Taking advantage of a crack in his opponent's defense, Naruto did a roundhouse kick that sent Lee backwards, but he wasn't done as he sent another kick to his side.

Much to his chagrin, Lee caught his foot.

"This is going to hurt, isn't it," Naruto playfully asked, though not really looking forward to the pain about to come.

"I'm afraid so, Naruto-kun," Lee answered.

The taijutsu expert swung Naruto around and slammed him into a wall and then threw him up into the air. Before the blond could hit the ground, Lee painfully kicked him even higher into the air.

Sasuke watched everything. Although Naruto's white chakra made it difficult to read him, he was memorizing every move Lee made. The kid may've been weird, but he was a fountain of taijutsu techniques.

Before Naruto could right himself in the air, his opponent performed _Shadow of the Dancing Leaf,_ getting behind him.

"Naruto-kun, you're much stronger than I thought," Lee complimented. "For that I will show you one of my strongest moves."

Naruto could tell shit was about to hit the fan just for him when he felt Lee's bindings undo themselves and begin to wrap around him. Just before Naruto could figure out what was happening, another green blur entered the area and hit Lee into a wall, saving the blond from disaster.

"Man, I would've felt that in the morning," Naruto said to himself as he landed.

He turned to the intruder and immediately wished he hadn't. If one Lee was bad enough, a bigger, older and uglier version of him was a nightmare made real.

"Lee, my youthful student!" the bigger shouted to the miniature. "If you had used that move on Naruto-kun, he would have been hurt!"

"Who the heck is this guy, Fuzzy Brows?" Naruto asked the obvious as his _Kyoukagan_ returned to normal.

"Forgive me, this is my beautiful sensei," Lee answered, introducing his teacher, "Maito Gai, the Green Beast of Konoha!"

"Okay," Naruto drawled. "This is turning out to be one weird day."

His eyes began scanning the area for any liable escape routes. He had to get away from this freak show! Already, he could feel his brain cells committing mass suicide from just watching the two. Naruto noticed something else: Sakura and Sasuke already made their escape.

"Damn it!" he muttered to himself. "They left without me!"

Just as he took a step backwards to run away, he watched as Maito Gai punched Lee into the wall. "Lee, my beautiful student, you should not have used that move. You could have harmed Naruto-kun!"

"Forgive me!" Lee yelled as a fountain tears came from his eyes. "I owed it to him. It was a battle among geniuses of hard work!"

"Naruto-kun? A genius of hard work?!" Gai asked himself in amazement. "Is it true that my rival has a student who wishes to work for glory?!"

"Yes, sensei!"

"This requires celebration! Naruto-kun…" Gai turned to where Naruto stood, only to see him not there. "I wonder where he has gone to."

* * *

Naruto huffed as he ran down the halls to escape the madness that was the crazies of Konoha. He stopped as he came up to Sakura and Sasuke standing in front the door to the next room with his sensei, Kakashi, standing over them.

"I was wondering when you'd get here," Kakashi said as Naruto walked up to them.

"Sorry, got hung over by a couple of fruit loops that escaped the nut house," the blond told him as he pointed a thumb over his shoulder. "But I wonder about something, throughout the entire battle, Lee didn't use a single jutsu, nothing but hand-to-hand combat."

Sakura and Sasuke looked at their teammate as if he was crazy. With taijutsu like that, who would need Ninjutsu or Genjutsu?

_Then again,_ Sasuke thought to himself,_ those two didn't see what I did._ True to what he said, his _Sharingan_ picked up the calluses, bruises, and cuts adorning Lee's hands. He was only able to see it for a split second, but it was enough time to tell him there was something off about that boy.

"A very keen observation, Naruto," Kakashi complimented him. "The reason he didn't use Ninjutsu was because he simply can't."

"That doesn't make sense," Sakura voiced her thoughts. "Isn't everyone able to use chakra?"

"Well, that's not really the case with everyone," her teacher explained. "Lee suffers from a rare disease that only allows him to produce enough chakra to live. Because of that, he was made the dead last of his class, but on a brighter note, ever since he graduated he's been working hard, mastering taijutsu to levels many shinobi dare not match. You could say him and Naruto are a lot alike."

Hearing that, Sasuke and Sakura turned to their teammate with a little surprise. For Naruto, he could understand Lee well, to be looked down upon because you were the worse. They both had to work for everything.

Kakashi quickly went back to teacher mode as he looked at the three, clearing his throat to capture their attention. "Alright, now that you're all here, you can take the exam. All three of you had to come or you wouldn't be able to enter."

Hearing that, Sakura was really glad that she came. If she hadn't, then she would've royally disappointed them both.

"Some advice for you three," Kakashi began. "Don't show off; the last thing you need is to have a target slapped onto your back for doing something stupid."

Sakura and Naruto knew what that meant: no Bloodline unless it was absolutely necessary –especially Naruto, who was highly prone to showing off.

"Lastly," Kakashi told them, finishing up his speech, "work as a team. Beyond here, you three are really going to rely on each other. Other than that, good luck and I'm proud of you."

All of them nodded as he opened the door. Slowly, the trio stepped through the portal to the first part of the exam.

Naruto could feel his _Kyoukagan_ going crazy as he stepped into the room, but he understood why, since most of the people in the building were here. He just didn't realize there were so many. All of them felt their eyes widen at just how many people were crammed into the room. There had to be close to quadruple of what they saw earlier.

Naruto felt a familiar signature laced with heavy killer intent aimed at him from a corner of the room. He turned to meet the sea-foam green eyes of Gaara staring at him with his usual hatred.

Temari and Kankuro noticed their brother's fixation on Naruto, but kept it to themselves. They didn't need to take the brunt of his anger; best leave that to his new chew toy.

It was then that his _Kyoukagan_ picked up a signature Naruto engraved into his mind on that day at the ramen stand. He turned around to see Team Eight. Kiba was talking it up with Shino –the bug was ignoring him in favor of talking to one of his bugs- and the last member, the quiet girl, sat quietly at a desk.

Naruto stared at her for a minute as a sense of familiarity hit him at the sight of her. Where had he seen that hair before? Her coat also reminded him of someone he met, but for the life of himself, he couldn't place a finger on the right person. It was then he remembered her: it was Hinata from class! Why hadn't he recognized her from the start!?

Finding he wanted to get to know her a bit more –and maybe determine whether or not he could trust her with his secret; he really wanted to copy her Doujutsu as well- he walked over to the small group. Kiba stopped his talking and put on a feral smile at the sight of his former favorite chew toy from the academy.

"I didn't know they let losers into this place as well," Kiba greeted him.

"Hey, Hinata-chan!" Naruto greeted as he hopped next to her, ignoring Kiba, who grinded his teeth, and Shino who raised an eyebrow at the intrusion.

The Hyuga heir turned to the person who said her name, and immediately a blush lit up her face like a morning star. Normally, she'd make a quick retreat, but due to circumstances beyond her control, she wouldn't be able to sneak out of this one. Oh by the gods, she hoped she wouldn't faint!

"Oh, h-h-hi N-Naruto-k-kun," she stuttered while shyly waving her hand. Hinata couldn't help it as she let a small smile play on her face; she loved his foxy smile –it always made her melt in its presence.

"Hey, I was just in the neighborhood and thought I'd stop by and say hello," he said as he stood next to her desk. "By the way, I never noticed your eyes before. They're really cool."

He thought her eyes were 'cool'? She hated her eyes; they were the reason her clan looked down upon her, but Naruto thought they looked awesome? This was a new concept for her.

"Thank you," she quietly said, earning another foxy smile from him.

"Hey, don't ignore me when I'm talking to you!" Kiba shouted, trying to get Naruto's attention back onto him. "Did you hear me, dead-last?"

"Close your mouth! I can smell you dog-ass breath all the way here!" the prankster told him, holding his nose for extra effect. It made him smile hearing Hinata giggle, though it was at Kiba's expense.

"Oh, I'm going to beat your…" Kiba tried to tell him as he rolled up his sleeves.

"Stop fighting," Sakura butted in as she and Sasuke came up to the small group. "Sorry, Naruto's been a pain in the ass lately. We've had trouble trying to keep him on his leash."

She turned to her teammate to see him pull down his eyelid with one of his fingers and then stick out his tongue towards Kiba, all the while giving the feral boy the bird with his free hand.

"You dirty son-of-a…" the dog master told him through clenched teeth, Akamaru barking in agreement.

Naruto's laughter and Kiba's threat was abruptly cut short as a banshee scream rung through the area. "NARUTO!"

The said blond blanched in horror and quickly hid under a desk near Hinata –making the said girl blush even more- as Ino stormed towards the group, stomping and all.

"You guys are here too? How troublesome…" Shikamaru told them as he followed.

"Why is Ino so mad at Naruto?" Sakura tried asking, watching as her former best friend began looking all over the place with a religious zeal for the absent member of Team Seven.

"She's been that way for a while," Chouji answered past a mouth full of food. "Ever since the battle the two had, she's been calling him her rival and tries to call a rematch every time they meet."

"Wait, I thought Ino was my rival," Sakura whined. "Hey Ino-pig!" she shouted, hoping to get the blond girl's attention. It worked as Ino turned to give her a look of utter annoyance. "I thought I was your rival."

"Forget you!" Ino yelled back. "You couldn't fight your way out of a paper bag."

Sakura's mouth dropped. Did Ino just call her weak?! She preferred a fight with Naruto over her!? _How did that work?!_ The Yamanaka never even paid attention to him at the academy, so what was with the change of heart?

"Calm down," Kiba told her. "Naruto's not that strong. Remember, he's the dead last. The worst grades in class and the weakest of the whole group, you know?" Akamaru barked in agreement.

Under the desk, Naruto was ready to jump out and deck Kiba a good one.

Ino turned away from her fox hunting and gave a withering look to Kiba, making him shrink a bit under her gaze. "If Naruto is the weakest of us all, I'll eat my shoes."

"Then how do you want them?" Kiba continued with a knowing smile. "Boiled or grilled?"

"How about you eat yours if you fight him and lose?" she told him as she crossed her arms, but then went back to hunting her newest rival.

Sasuke watched Ino with a raised eyebrow.

He couldn't help agreeing with her observations. Naruto was much stronger than many made him out to be. He had been at the end of the stick in a battle with the blond; there was no way in Hell Naruto was that weak.

Another thing that caught Sasuke by surprise was the blond pig had yet to latch onto him. As a matter fact, she had yet to acknowledge his existence. Part of him was confused about what changed, but his other half was relieved nonetheless to have gotten rid of a fan girl.

The Uchiha looked towards Sakura to see her looking dejected and horror struck. This wasn't going to help her confidence levels later…

"Hinata, do you know where Naruto is?" Ino asked Hinata, making her wither under her harsh voice. "Never mind."

She then continued to look and grinned as she finally found his tuff of blond hair from under the desk next to the blushing girl.

"There you are!" she yelled in victory as she pulled him by the hair, making the boy wince in pain. "You and I: a rematch, but this time, winner take all!"

"Could you let me go, and maybe I'll think about it!?" he yelled at her. He sighed in relief as she let go, looking at him expectantly.

"You should've never pissed her off, you know that right?" Shikamaru asked from the seat he took.

"What the hell did I do?" asked Naruto, confused as to why everyone wanted a piece of him.

First it was Ino, then it was the bloodthirsty Gaara, he couldn't care if Kiba saw it fit to do battle with him, but the one person he really considered a rival was Sasuke. So why was everyone after his head!?

"I don't think it's a good a time for a battle," Shino told Ino, making Naruto thank the gods he didn't need to come up with an excuse –he seemed to be doing that a lot lately.

"What's your point?" she countered, crossing her arms.

"Actually, Abarume-san has a very good point," agreed a new, overly polite voice. "You rookies are attracting way too much attention than what is considered safe."

The silver-haired, glasses wearing newcomer pointed towards a particular group of ninjas that eyed them with annoyance and hatred. Each of them had a sound note on their headbands, and looked to be downright pugnacious compared to the many other competitors.

"They're from Otogakura, the Village Hidden in Sound. It's a fairly new village; I believe it was just formed just little over a year ago."

"And you are…?" questioned Kiba.

"Oh yes, how rude of me!" the person pushed his glasses further up onto the bridge of his nose. "My name is Yakushi Kabuto. It's a pleasure to meet the Rookie Nine, the only rookie ninjas entered. This is my eighth time taking this exam, and I highly suggest you all watch your backs; it is quite difficult."

"Hah! Man you must suck to have failed it that many times!" Naruto bluntly told him, earning a punch from Sakura to the side of his face.

"Ah, I may not have passed this exam, but my trials have brought much fruit."

Kabuto pulled out a stack of blank cards. He pulled off the top card and channeled a little chakra into it, turning it into a miniature map. All of the rookies leaned forward to look at the small map, and felt their eyebrows rise at the sight of it.

"You all are very fortunate; not many get to look at a world map of all the current shinobi nations," he said as he put the map card at the bottom of the deck. "These cards reveal the public information of a person, including stats, number of missions completed, team members, and etcetera."

"Really?" Sasuke asked, sounding interested. "I want some information."

"Okay. On who?"

"Rock Lee."

"By knowing his name, it makes it easy on me."

Naruto gave a withering look to his teammate as Kabuto pulled out the card. He wasn't interested in such a way of spying on an opponent, even if the info was public. It just wasn't his style, but then again, maybe a little information never hurt anyone…

Kabuto looked at the card over and raised an eyebrow. "How interesting. It says he was the dead last of his class and is teamed with the rookie of the year, Hyuga Neji, and Tenten. It also says that his genjutsu and Ninjutsu are nonexistent but his taijutsu… my, my, my, its way off the charts!" He put away the card and returned his attention to the others. "Is there anyone else you all want to look at?"

"Yeah," it was surprisingly Ino who spoke. "Got anything on Uzumaki Naruto?" She pointed her thumb towards her intended target, making the whiskered boy growl at her.

"Give me a second." Like last time, Kabuto took a card from his deck and channeled a small bit of chakra into it. "Well, it says here that you were the dead last as well," the four-eyed ninja told Naruto, earning a grimace. "It says your genjutsu is below average, taijutsu is average, but you Ninjutsu is above average. No Bloodline Limits of any kind, but how amazing! It says that you and Team Seven completed an A-ranked mission. How splendid!"

Teams Eight and Ten looked at Seven with a slight bit of reverence in their eyes, but Sasuke was unsatisfied. The information was _way_ too far off; he knew how strong Naruto could be and he had no doubt in his mind that the blond was much stronger.

"Bullshit," Sasuke said, catching everyone's attention, including Naruto. "That information is too old. Naruto and I once had a mock battle, and if recall correctly, Dobe was fighting on par with me."

"You're joking!" Kiba yelled. "There's no way that the village idiot could get that good that fast!"

Naruto narrowed his eyes as he caught what Kiba had called him. "Can it bastard! I could take you on any day of the week! Hell, you stink so bad I could do it blind folded!"

The group from Hidden Sound finally had enough of their carefree yapping. Dosu walked up to the rookies, making them tense up in preparation for a coming conflict. Kabuto interestingly enough remained calm, adjusting his glasses as they came.

"You all are starting to annoy the hell out me," the Cyclops told the group in a threatening voice. "Let it be known that we, from Sound, are better than all you little wimps."

Kabuto smirked from his position, grabbing all of the Sound ninja's attention. "I would have to disagree with that one."

It pissed off Dosu, enough so that he charged the genin. Kabuto quickly leapt out of the way of the armored fist, but as he landed, he fell to his knees and puked. His glasses fell off of his face, cracked from whatever strange phenomenon occurred.

"What the…?" Ino questioned. "What was that?!"

Naruto knew, as noted by the narrowing of his eyes. He had to hand it to the Kyuubi –even if he hated her guts with something comparable to a thousand suns- he _really_ liked the advantages of having advance, animal-like senses. His ears caught a single high pitched sound when Dosu punched, created from the armored gauntlet on his arm.

Before he could let everyone know his observations, a new, commanding voice rung through the entire room. "Alright you shits, get to your seats!"

Everyone turned to see a man walk into the room with numerous scars all over his face, almost to the point of disfiguration. A single bandanna covered his head and a large trench coat covered his body.

They also noticed a large number of Chunin appear on the floor above them, snickering at the mayhem and hell they were going to inflict upon the unsuspecting genin. Their numbers also happened to include the two wannabe genin guarding the door earlier, who were currently glaring daggers at Naruto. He noticed and tried to put on a friendly smile, only enraging them even more.

"You all have exactly sixty seconds," the man down at the bottom of the room told everyone, wearing a sadistic grin that reminded Naruto too much of his housemate, "to get to your seats, starting from the moment I spoke, or everyone will fail."

It was like magic. Every living person got into a seat and sat there while being quiet, including the normally noisy Naruto and Kiba.

"Your first exam will include a seating arrangement," some people groaned while others just shrugged or ignored it. "The reason why is because this is a written exam. Come up here in a line, grab your number and a test sheet, and get back to your seat. You all may begin when I say so."

Naruto's eye twitched when he heard that it was a written exam. Above him, Sasuke paled while Sakura's mouth dropped. This just blew their chance away at passing the exam; Naruto sucked something awful when it came to written tests.

They were screwed!

Kill Joy no Jutsu (A.K.A. Author's Note): I'm back! Because of my long absence (for which I have perfectly good excuses) I have given you all a long chapter. My original goal was to get past the initial part of the exam but the chapter was starting to get too long and I didn't want this to become too monotonous for you guys. The good news is that the Chunin exam has officially begun.

My excuses for not getting this chapter posted: I got grounded (yes, I haven't graduated high school yet, but my English skills are said to be some of the best in the entire school), my computer hit the weenie and the finally, my family lost our internet for a while. Yes, I was starting to have withdrawals after the first couple days of this madness. I even went to cafes that had free internet, but it still sucked because they don't allow foreign USB drives on their computers.

Naruto will copy the Byukagan in the next chapter. Look forward to it as it will seriously help, because next chapter, Orochimaru makes his grand appearance and the battle will have unexpected results than many of you wouldn't think of. It will also reveal the final ability of the Kyoukagan.

Let's go over this again: _**THERE ARE NO CONFIRMED PAIRINGS!**_ I know some of you are going to complain that I'm setting it up for a Naruto/Hinata pairing, but please know that it is not confirmed. It won't be until the sequel; I mean for crying out loud, there only like twelve!

It is official; this is the longest chapter I have ever written. Sweet!


	10. The End of Heartache

**Chapter 10- The End of Heartache**

Naruto knew he was head high in crap as he waited for his name to be called for his seating assignment and to grab his test paper. Sasuke and Sakura looked defeated knowing their blond teammate could answer a test about as well as Kakashi could woo a woman. Today just wasn't their lucky day.

"Uzumaki Naruto," Ibiki yelled.

The whiskered boy could practically hear the death march play as he numbly walked up to grab his test and assigned seat, all the while Sasuke death-glared him and Sakura looked on with worry.

When he had gotten to his seat, he allowed himself to briefly glimpse at the questions. Just looking at them, he knew they might as well put a stamp on his head saying 'failed' or even 'dunce.' These questions were so far above his own head it would have been like a monkey leaping out a tree with the hopes that it could grab onto the moon.

How was he going to pull this off without cheating?!

"H-hello, Naruto-kun," a soft whisper greeted him.

Abruptly taken out of his thoughts of doom, he looked to the seat on his right, greeting his eyes to the sight of the paled-eyed Hinata. She was just as nervous as he was (if not more), but her presence comforted him. Maybe getting this seat was a good thing.

"Oh, hey Hinata!" he greeted with a foxy smile. "Nervous?"

She nodded her head in affirmation.

"Don't worry about," he comforted. "It shouldn't be too hard to beat." _I hope at least_, he added in his mind.

"Okay," she muttered, turning back to Ibiki as he spoke.

"Alright you idiots," Ibiki shouted past the clutter, silencing everyone. He quickly briefed them on the rules, making some of the genin pale in fear –namely Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto in particular- if just one member of a team failed, the entire team failed. Then, Ibiki let them all loose, hearing the sounds of pencil scratching against paper.

The only person without a pencil moving like mad was Naruto. He clutched his head as he stared at the god-forsaken paper, hoping his gaze might catch it on fire.

These questions were much too hard, even for the average Chunin! What was he supposed to do? He had only an hour to finish the test, but even that wasn't going to help him get this sucker done.

In defeat, he slammed his head against the desk, making every one look and laugh at him. To them, someone cracked against the pressure.

For Ibiki, this was priceless entertainment. The only thing he was missing was a camera. And to believe Anko praised this Naruto brat so much…

He had talked with his working partner about what he planned this year since it was his first time hosting the first part of the Chunin exam. Mitarashi laughed and said Naruto could pull it off with flying colors, but from what he was seeing now, Naruto wasn't all she made him out to be. It looked as if Anko owed him a nice stack of cold, hard cash.

Finally, after feeling he killed enough brain cells, Naruto settled to his fate of making his entire team fail. With a defeated sigh, he leaned his head against his desk, feeling more like crap with every second ticking by.

Hinata looked at him with worry from the corner of her eyes, but didn't move her head with the threat of being failed. Naruto saw it and gave a wiry smile. At least someone was worrying about his self-being outside of Kakashi, Iruka, Anko, Yamato, and Sarutobi.

* * *

"You know, I'm worried about my team," Kakashi said as he paced the room, every so often taking a glance at the clock. For one of the few times in his life, he didn't have his nose buried in his precious '_Make-Out Paradise_.' "I wonder if I made the right decision when I said they could take the exam. I mean, Ibiki is the examiner for the first part."

"Yeah, I know," Asuma agreed, flicking the butt of his used cigarette. "I wonder how many genin are going to crap their pants. After all, this guy's a professional. He could make an S-class criminal spill his guts; he could even get them to talk about whether or not they wet the bed growing up."

Currently, the copy-cat and the other jounin sensei, including Tenzo, were hanging out in a lounge, waiting for the antagonizing hour to be up. The tension was so thick in the air it could've been cut with a butter knife. Even Gai was being nice and quiet from the nervousness.

"Senpai," Tenzo interrupted his former captain, "you do realize that I seconded your decision?"

Kakashi stopped and looked at him with his single eye. "Yes, but I'm still the head teacher of the group; most of the blame would fall on me."

"Yep," the group of Konoha jounin turned to the entrance of the room as Anko entered, smiling a devious grin as she leaned on the doorway. "And you'd become target number one should anything happen to the genin. After all, it was your example that led everyone else to make the same decision."

Kakashi blanched and his single eye twitched in fear. She was right. Though she didn't say the specific name of the man that'd hunt him, he was pretty sure the psycho was hinting towards Iruka. The thought of his face melting off his skull wasn't something that he enjoyed… nope, not at all.

"But you all can relax for the moment," Anko walked into the room and took a seat on one of the chairs.

"Why would that be?" Kurenai asked.

Out of nowhere, Anko pulled out a box of dango and began munching on the sweet dumplings. It took only a second before she emptied the stick and then threw it into a wall.

"Old Ibiki," she answered, "only likes to play mind games. I've known him to pry secrets out of S-class criminals by just staring at them, and knowing him he's got something up his sleeve."

She then snickered as she bit into another stick.

"What's so funny?" Asuma asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, it's simple really. Naruto's going to pass this with flying colors!"

It was the chain-smoker's turn to laugh.

"You put too much faith into him," Asuma said as he pulled out a lighter for a fresh cigarette. "If anything, he's going to be the cause for Team Seven's demise."

Just as he put the cancer stick to his mouth, a dango stick struck it, sticking in the filter, but not going any further. The tobacco leaves flittered to the ground while Asuma pulled the filter from his mouth, staring at the stick stuck to it with awe and fear. Naruto must've learned senbon usage from her, not Hotaru like he claimed.

He looked at Anko to see her smile went upside down and her eyes now stared at him as if he committed a cardinal sin.

"You underestimate him," she said, standing and walking out of the room. "I'd stay, but I have to prepare for the next part of the exam."

Kurenai shook her head in exasperation. She'd been on a couple missions with Anko and she knew first hand how the woman could be. It just surprised her to no end how she latched onto Naruto like an older sibling.

"Damn, she's a crazy-ass bitch," Asuma noted as he pulled out another cigarette, frowning at the waste of a good cancer stick.

* * *

Naruto stood in a maze of mirrors; it seemed endless, and it was discomforting seeing his own reflection so much. Whereas in Kyuubi's lair the pathways were bigger and covered in water, this place was dry and the floor itself was a mirror. If it wasn't for the fact he could see his own reflection on the ground, he would've sworn he was standing on air.

Was he in his mind? No. He could see the differences immediately. Maybe this was a dream. Well, if it was he didn't like it; it was much too creepy.

Shrugging, he took off on the first path closest to his foot. He looked out from the corner of his eye, watching as his reflection ran by his side. Looking down, he could see the mirror image following his feet. It was just disconcerting seeing all these reflections; he felt a thousand times more comfortable in his mind where the mirrors were broken.

Uzumaki stopped briefly to take a breath. He was stuck in another part of the maze, only it branched out into four paths. Crystals jutted out from everywhere, just as reflective as the environment around him. When he took a single step, thousands of him did the same.

He hated this place, but at the same time he loved it. It felt a part of him, but at the same time, it felt as if every mirror he looked at was looking into his own soul. That's why he liked broken mirrors so much; it was a distortion of his self, enough so he couldn't see himself clearly –he couldn't see his own blemishes. It was one thing to look into another's soul, but it was something else altogether to look into his. To see one's self was to see their own flaws; it was natural for a person to either look away or to look over them.

Naruto shook his head. This wasn't a time to get philosophical. On instinct, he ran towards the path he subconsciously chose. He ran as fast as his legs could take him, as if something, or someone, was waiting for him.

When he finally came unto the end of the path, his silvery eyes were greeted to a spherical room of mirrors so much like the rest of the maze, but the only difference was a single hoary flower looked to have been fastened from the purest silver. Naruto couldn't place what type of flower it was, but it was highly beautiful.

Slowly he walked around the room, looking into the mirrors. With every step a resounding echo moved throughout. The only thing breaking his picture-perfect image were the lines separating the mirrors.

He stopped as he suddenly saw a reflection of his self standing over the flower and gently caressing the petals. With a confused look, he looked back at the flower, but found no soul there, not even a shadow clone.

The dream seemed to be getting weirder the longer it kept going.

With a grimace, the blond turned back to the mirror, but almost jumped back as he saw his image. He put his hands up to his face to feel his eyes, moving his finger over his eyelids and cheeks, watching as his reflection did the same thing.

His eyes were different; though, he wasn't feeding them chakra, his irises were shattered, but it wasn't this sending him for a loop. It was the fact the white of his eyes also became mirror-silver. His icy tears were rolling down his face, but they weren't there.

He put his hand against the mirror, but jumped back as it rippled. Cautious eyes scanned the room as he tried to figure out what was going on, if there was someone else or if the Kyuubi was present. Either way, he couldn't sense the red fox queen, making him wonder what was going on.

Naruto blinked as he felt a cool sensation on his hand. He lifted it up, finding that liquid silver stained where he touched the mirror. Out of panic he rubbed it against his clothes, only scattering the substance.

"What the heck is this stuff?" he muttered to himself, becoming only angrier the more he rubbed it onto himself.

He snorted as he looked at his palm. It looked as if it never came off, but still scattered more of itself onto him at the same time.

His eyes widened as he heard a whisper. Hoping to find someone to could tell him where he was, he tried to follow it, frantically looking about the room. All he could see though was the flower placed in the center of the room. With a dismayed sigh, he began to stare at it, all the while thinking of possible ways he could remove the silver off his body.

Naruto frowned as he saw a single petal fall from the blossom, and then melt into the floor where it touched.

That was when the worst half of this nightmare happened.

Suddenly, he could feel a cool sensation crawling all around his body. With wide, panic-filled eyes, he looked to see the silver he scattered on his person begin to grow, slowly engulfing him. His breaths began to come faster as he looked at his palm, watching it as it covered him in a liquid vine, branching out and covering him. He tried to rub it away, but that only stained more of his body.

Slowly it moved, and Naruto was doing everything he could do to stop it. Anything from pulling out a kunai to scratch it away to using his bare nails, but it felt painful, as if he was harming himself. The more he rejected it, the more painful it became.

Finally, every inch of his body was covered, and slowly the thing was moving onto his face. By now, Naruto was hyperventilating; all of his muscles locked up, he couldn't do anything because of fear. All he could do was stand there as it took over him. He closed his eyes as it covered his face, and then went into his mouth. There was no taste, but the sensation made him want to vomit.

Naruto fell to his knees and tried to open pry open his eyes, but the liquid nightmare prevented all attempts at such things. His chest convulsed as he attempted breath, but it was futile. Out of fear, he began to grate at his face, hoping to tear it off, but it felt as if he was clawing at his own visage.

At long last, he fell to the floor, subjugating himself to his demise. He wanted to cry; he could be leaving the people he cared so much for; he hadn't become Hokage like he wanted to; and there was so much more he had yet to experience. Why did it have to end now?!

At the last second, his eyes shot open and while he was lying on the ground, he looked into a mirror. But before he could see the image before him, it all ended.

* * *

In the real world, Naruto awoke with a start and fell out of his chair. In disorientation, he gasped for breath while holding his throat. Sweat beaded his brow as he felt all over his face to make sure that silver piss wasn't on his face anymore. That was one hell of a nightmare!

After seeing he wasn't being suffocated by liquid silver, he could suddenly feel the room saturated with enough killing intent that even Zabuza would have been scared shitless. Slowly he turned to the room and found he caused quite the ruckus. Everyone was now staring at his sweating form, some with more hateful glares than others. He looked towards Ibiki and could see that the man wasn't very thrilled with his falling asleep either, and some of the proctors were just waiting for the orders to grab him and fling him out of the room like yesterday's garbage.

'_Shit,_' Naruto muttered in his mind. His momentary fear of the room was forgotten as he felt chakra being fed into his _Kyoukagan_. That always seemed to happen when he experienced a nightmare, and it drove him nuts. He stopped feeding his eyes chakra, sat his chair straight, and sat back down.

"If you disrupt my class one more time," Ibiki threatened, making a chill go down everyone's spine, "I'll make sure we give you special treatment when you leave."

Naruto gulped. Unlike what Anko dished out at home, that was a bona-fide threat. With fear he nodded his head and turned back to his paper, staring at it as he felt every eye in the room drilling holes into the back of his head. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see everyone slowly turn back to their papers. That wasn't a good way to make friends.

He sighed as he picked up his pencil and began to twirl it in between his fingers as he stared at his test paper.

* * *

Unbeknownst to Naruto, one of his two great secrets had been just discovered, all because he didn't know what a particular pair of milky eyes were capable of. Next to him, the owner of those moon eyes was in deep shock.

The Hyuga heir had seen something both beautiful and astounding. She had been using her eyes to cheat –something she wasn't particularly proud of- but was then startled by Naruto suddenly waking up, making her put all of her attention onto him. It was then her _Byakugan_ momentarily allowed her to see past the goggles. What she saw made her confused, but curious at the same time; it was wonderful and it made her wonder why Naruto would want to hide such a thing.

At first, she had expected to see crystal-blue eyes, but imagine the surprise when she saw the silvery pupils and irises in the form of shattered mirrors. And then she saw him turn them off, allowing her to watch as the shards fell away, revealing the normal joy-filled blue she was familiar with, but still leaving those piercing pupils. Was that why he wore the goggles? Compared to the _Byakugan_, she would be more than willing to trade her cursed eyes for something so immaculate.

Another thought hit her: they were alike! They both had Doujutsu! Did he have a clan like her, or was he the last of the Uzumaki like Sasuke was of the Uchiha? So many questions in such a short period of time, but she doubted sh'dd get answers. Naruto was wearing goggles, which meant he obviously wanted to keep his eyes as secret as possible.

She would stay silent for the moment, but later, she had to talk to him about it. If she didn't, the curiosity would eat at her until she did.

* * *

Naruto continued to stare at his paper with something akin to never ending hatred. Back at the academy, Iruka made him work like a dog before tests were to be done, but even then he still failed them. There was no hope for him and his teammates to continue on!

A sigh caught in his throat as he sensed something awfully weird. His _Kyoukagan_ perceived several Bloodline Limits going off at the same time. That, and the air in the room seemed to be saturated with a lot of chakra. Curious, he turned his eyes around him –just enough to see what was going on, but not enough he'd get the boot.

Naruto's eyes widened as he felt astounded by what he was spying. Sasuke was using his _Sharingan_ to watch someone write; Shikamaru used his big brain to answer the questions and then used his shadow to make his teammates copy the answers; Kiba made Akamaru look at answers and then bark them to him; even Shino was in on the action, using one of his little bugs to scout and then come back to move his pencil with the right answer.

Everyone was cheating! Weren't they afraid of being caught like him? There were Chunin watching them after all! Well, at least Hinata wouldn't lower herself to such a…

His smile at the thought was wiped off of his face as he saw the veins around her eyes bulging. He never saw the _Byakugan_ in action, but it didn't take a genius for him to know she indeed lowered herself to such a position.

He abruptly turned his head as one of the Chunin hopefuls near him got a pencil lodged into his paper.

"You there, you were caught cheating, please leave," one of the proctors announced.

The hopeful left with a sour scowl on his face. His teammates threw some nasty words in his direction, but he ignored them. Naruto gulped at the thought of becoming the loser.

He turned back to his paper, allowing his mind to bounce around. The blond stared at his paper as he read the first question again. _What trajectory is needed to gain the maximum velocity for a shuriken?_ How the hell was he supposed know something like that!? The better question would, why the in the nine hells would he need to know something like that!? It was simple: throw the damn star and hope it made contact!

It was such a hard question, but why would a Chunin need to know…

If Naruto wasn't in such a predicament, he would have smacked himself silly for not picking it up earlier. These questions were much too hard, even maybe for a Chunin. It was as if they proctors wanted to encourage the genin to cheat.

His thoughts were abruptly interrupted as more genin were failed. Looking around the room, he could see them getting picked off like flies getting squashed by an oversized flyswatter.

Then he thought a little more deeply. You _needed_ to cheat to pass; there were no ifs, ands, or buts about it. It was only a matter of if you got caught; the only ones who were getting failed were too obvious or stupid about their ideas.

Naruto grinned like a fox. This kind of test was right up his alley. But he couldn't help but ask himself how to pull it off, especially when every one of his prankster instincts were shouting inside his head. If one Bloodline Limit was enough to allow you to pass, imagine how helpful several could be!

But what to do? _Sharingan_: nah, too subtle; and that was Sasuke's method, so it was a big no-no. _Hyakurai_: not a smart idea; that'd be like placing a flashing neon sign over his head saying he did it. _Byaku Chakra_: that one was kind of pointless for this situation. _Mokuton_: well, he didn't want Yamato-sensei to get into trouble. That left _Hyouton_.

A smirk grew on his face as a plan came together in his mind. It was grandiose enough for his taste, but it was subtle enough no one could pin it to him. There was one major problem though: it was going to push his _Hyouton_ to its limits. This was going to be the greatest amount of concentration he ever put into something.

Hinata put down her pencil, having just finished her test. With her _Byakugan_, she could see some thinking going on in Naruto's head. He was smart and cunning, but no one ever noticed it. Sometimes she wondered if he should've been at the top of the class.

At the same time, she felt bad for him. Written exams weren't exactly his forte and she remembered how often he failed his tests.

"Naruto-kun," she whispered, keeping her head down so that the proctors wouldn't see her lips moving.

The said boy looked at her from the corner of his eye, trying to figure out what she wanted. He had the chakra necessary for his eyes at the ready, but because of the disruption, it scattered into the air. It didn't matter to him, though; he had enough to practically feed an entire squad of jounin.

"What is it Hinata-chan?" he asked, keeping his head down as well.

"If y-y-you want," she tried to stutter out, taking a leap of faith, "y-you can use m-my answers."

He smiled a foxy grin. "I need you to hold that thought."

Below, Ibiki saw the smile on Naruto's face and knew right there he lost the bet with Anko. It didn't bode well for him, or any of the other participants of this exam. He couldn't tell how or when, but shit was going to hit the fan in a fancy way, and the mess it was going to leave behind wasn't going to be pretty. And his favorite part: none of it would be able to be traced back to the culprit.

Hinata could see with her _Byakugan_ Naruto feeding chakra to his eyes, shattering his blue eyes and making them rapidly fade to mirror silver. The next thing that occurred, though, almost made her mouth drop: the shards fell out of his eyes like a soft snow, revealing stormy blue eyes not belonging to Naruto.

For Naruto, he began to concentrate and try his absolute best to make sure his mind didn't wander, because if it did everything would backfire horribly.

In the palm of his hand, underneath his desk, water began to collect. Using the elemental manipulation the _Hyouton_ granted him, he dropped the water to the ground and began to make it move away from him. Anywhere would be good, just as long nobody found out it was him.

Hinata watched it as well with her pale eyes, seeing the beauty of the chakra saturating into the air and drawing out the water particles. Then she watched as the water slithered along the ground past peoples' feet like a snake headed to an objective. Naruto himself wore a mask of concentration.

The water weaved through the chairs, out of the sight of the proctors' eyes, Ibiki included. It became larger as it engorged on more water from the air, but even with its increasing size it still moved silently.

Naruto began to sweat. Now he was just testing the range of his _Hyouton_ and how far away he could control it. Instinctively, the air-based chakra wanted to combine with the water to create ice, but he was doing his greatest to make sure it didn't happen. It still wasn't far away enough.

Hinata still kept an eye on everything. She was curious as to where Naruto learned such a high level chakra manipulation technique, and was even more curious as to what he was planning.

By now, the small stream was the size of a large python, but it still kept moving. Finally, it stopped fifty feet away from its master, far away enough nobody could pin it on him. The water gathered up into a rippling blob. Naruto smirked as he felt someone spy the mass of liquid from under his desk, a random genin that had absolutely no idea what was in store for him.

"What the hell is this?!" the genin asked, looking under his desk.

Every proctor turned their attention to the boy, Ibiki included. The bear-like man had a gut feeling that the pile of crap was now aimed at the fan, and the person was just arching their arm back for the toss.

Finally, Naruto couldn't take it anymore. The water was too far out of range for him to control it, and his concentration was wearing thin. Everyone present looked over at the area where there was an explosion, only to see the boy and anyone nearby frozen inside a mass of ice crystals, or at least stuck to the floor by their frozen limbs.

He had only a split second, so Naruto snatched Hinata's test paper and began to jot down everything on her paper, surprising her with a squeak.

She had to admit, that was as genius as something Shikamaru could come up with. The love of her life used a distraction to turn everybody's attention onto a particular spot while he used the split second to get what he needed. That was a plan any jounin would've been proud of.

But the ice… That was a bi-element! She only read about them, and every single last one was an advanced Bloodline Limit, but that meant Naruto had that and his eyes! Did Naruto have more than one Limit at his disposal? The more she thought about it, the more confusing it became.

Sasuke and Sakura stared at the pile of ice in different ways. Sasuke had wide eyes and thought Naruto had just committed suicide for himself and everyone else on the team. Sakura's mouth practically dropped to the floor and her eyes were as wide as dinner plates. The thoughts in her mind were along the lines of Sasuke's.

Ibiki was furious. He turned to Naruto, but saw him twiddling his fingers and doing nothing, but from his location he could see the full answer sheet. The little bastard used a distraction, but he had absolutely no proof! Well, it looked like he owed Anko a lot of money, most of it she would probably waste on dango or alcohol too.

"If I find out who did this," he watched as the corners of Naruto's lips twitched in the beginnings of a smile, "I'll make sure your ninja career is permanently cut short!"

That was when the blonde's face broke out into a full grin, making Ibiki know full well it was him. For one of the few times in his life, he didn't have a single clue as to how the brat executed it, and even unto the end of his life he'd never find out. All the torn up man could do was sit in his desk and wait for the end of the class, all the while glaring at Anko's adopted little brother.

* * *

Towards the end of the time, Naruto was getting nervous. He never answered the tenth question, and it was the only thing he had trouble figuring out. It was blank and it asked nothing, making him worry as to what the proctor had up his sleeves.

Ibiki still continued to stare at him knowing he done it, but at the same time couldn't prove it. All that did was make Naruto snicker; the blond had looked into the face of the Devil himself (Iruka) when he was angry, so this was nothing compared to it. Besides, Iruka could track everything Naruto did down the wire with his _Hyakurai,_ and if he did get caught it was because he hadn't gone into the sewers.

He thought it weird how Hinata tried to peak at him every so often. Did he have something on his face, or was something hanging from his nose? At that last thought, he begged the gods the latter wasn't true.

Sasuke and Sakura relaxed when they felt the proctors were never going to find out it was Naruto who pulled off the ice-explosion stunt. Though, they had to give their teammate kudos for having the bronze marbles to pull off a stunt of such grandiose level, and then somehow get away with everything. Then again, unless you knew who had the bi-element, it would be difficult to trace it back to the original person anyways.

Ibiki turned to the clock and smiled. This was the part he'd been waiting for because now the number of genin was going to be cut to less than half. And maybe this time he would screw over that blond brat so he didn't owe Anko any money.

He stood up and cleared his throat, gaining everyone's attention.

Naruto paid close attention just in case a curveball was sent his way. He had a feeling this was the moment of truth for everyone, especially since it was the end of the time they had for answering the test, but what did Ibiki have up his sleeve? From the few times Anko mentioned him Naruto knew the bear-like man worked as the interrogator of the ANBU, and was so good that he could even get a rock to spill its guts in less than thirty minutes.

"Alright everyone, pay attention or I'll throw you out right here and now," he shouted, magically making everyone sit on their seats while holding their breaths. "As you all can see, the tenth question was left blank."

Naruto muttered a 'shit' in his mind as he briefly looked at the paper. So that was the spicy jalapeño on the sandwich! It was the 'do-it-or-lose-everything' question. He should've known. This Ibiki guy was such a sadistic bastard that he made Anko look warm and cuddly.

"This question we saved for last because it's a do-or-die." The blond looked to Hinata to see she paled even more than she already was. "If you fail this question, you will never become a Chunin in your ninja career, but should you decline to answer it, well, there's always next year. If you get it correct, though, you will pass this exam, but should you value your ninja career, the door is over there."

Ibiki pointed to the door, prompting several people to stand up and begin the sad walk of failure. Slowly, genin teams stood, upset that they were too weak or stupid. Teams looked angry at each other; some of the closer members looked forgiving. Either way, Naruto didn't want to become like them. Hell or high water, he was going to answer that damn question!

Up above him, Sakura was having second thoughts. Yeah, Naruto may have cheated on the test and got the answers, but was she strong enough for something like this? Would her teammates be forgiving and understanding of her choice? She wasn't powerful –she knew that- even with her _Kinzokuton_. The poor girl slid further down into her chair as she thought about throwing in the towel.

Naruto looked towards Hinata and found her shaking, slowly her inching her arm up. She couldn't do that, and he wasn't going to allow it! The Hyuga heir was so nice to him, making him at least want to give her a favor. Maybe all she needed was a small boost of confidence; and who better than for the one who was practically brimming with it to be the one to dish it out?

Ibiki turned his eyes on Naruto as he stood up with an angry scowl painting his face. Above the blond, Sasuke looked at him with murder while Sakura sighed, both of them thinking the pressure got to their teammate –Sakura was at least thankful she hadn't stood up. Hinata watched her crush with sad eyes and thought about doing the same; after all, they were dead-lasts.

Before Ibiki could dismiss the blond, Naruto added chakra to his hand and smashed the desk he sat at, splintering it down the middle and startling Hinata next to him with his outburst.

"GO TO HELL!" he yelled at the proctor, raising a shaking fist into the air. "I want to become Hokage, but I'm not going to get there unless I'm willing to take chance! So, wrong or right, shove that question up your ass!"

From his vantage point and his satisfaction, Naruto was able to see the proctor's eye twitch. Above them on the platform, almost every chunin's mouth dropped at the gall of the blond. All the genin thinking of quitting remained, finding strength in the boy's words or to stay and see if the idiot got his ass handed to him for insubordination.

Hinata stared at Naruto with awe. She could practically feel the courage flowing off of him. It only made her will strengthen; she was going to stay for both her teammates and to be strong for Naruto to notice her.

Sakura thought if Naruto had balls of bronze when he pulled the stunt with the ice, then they became balls comparable to diamond. But at the same time, she couldn't help but be empowered by his words. Maybe she could stay… if only for him and Sasuke.

Ibiki stopped his staring contest with the blond and scanned the classroom to see no one else leaving. He growled as he realized the boy's well placed words not only drove the fear out of everyone, but also made them want to stay. It was amazing how fool proof plans could be shattered by the ingenuity of a complete fool.

He finally sighed as he gave in to fate. "All of you who are present…" Everyone hung onto his words, especially Naruto. "You all have passed."

"WHAT!?" Temari yelled from her side of her room.

"Huh?" was Naruto's intelligent reply, as his arms went limp and his eyes blinked in confusion. Then after a couple of seconds of letting it sink in, he gave a grin that threatened to split his face in half.

"Hell yeah! I passed!" he shouted, making a victory sign.

"NARUTO, YOU IDIOT!" Sakura shouted from her point above him, part of her inner-self doing joining. "DON'T FRICKEN' SCARE US LIKE THAT!"

Before he could duck, her pencil was launched faster than a kunai. Before he could dodge, it landed on the back of his head. From the impact of the tiny pencil, Naruto was sent into his already broken desk, creating a small fountain of splinters.

Sasuke raised an impressed eyebrow at his female teammate's outburst. It was moments like these he was proud of having Sakura by his side.

Annoyed at being ignored, Ibiki cleared his throat, prompting everyone to turn their attention from the noisy rookies to him. Naruto sat on the floor, rubbing the pencil shaped lump on his head while paying attention.

From there, Ibiki felt the need to explain to the class how he rigged the test. Naruto had to give it to the man: he was damn good at psychology. No wonder everyone pissed their pants when the test sheets were handed out; it was a nightmare back at the academy, so why not do it again?

Then the interrogator showed them the scars. Naruto recoiled in slight horror, while Hinata covered her mouth in shock. They both could've sworn one of the nearby genin had the misfortune of having his lunch resurrect itself and then launch itself onto the floor. Many of the genin now realized just how much hell some ninja could –or would- have to go through.

Ibiki was just about to finish his explanation, but was interrupted as a ball of clothes leapt through the window. Everyone watched as the person threw a kunai with a banner on it to the ceiling, announcing who the newcomer was: Mitarashi Anko.

"Hello maggots! Don't be getting comfortable" she yelled to the class, wearing her trademark psycho grin, "because Anko is here and the second part of the Chunin Exams will be getting underway!"

"You're a little early," Ibiki told her, moving aside the banner so he could see her.

The duck-haired jounin looked at him, blinking her eyes as she registered what he said. "Damn," she muttered after a couple seconds, now pouting angrily.

"YOU!" Anko heard a familiar, accusing voice. With blinking eyes, she looked up at Naruto who was pointing at her with an angry face.

She grinned at the sight of her adopted little brother. Then she turned to Ibiki and made a gesture, prompting the big man to pull out his wallet and dig out a nice sized wad of cash. With an even bigger grin, she counted the money.

At that, Naruto's mouth would've dropped to floor if it wasn't for the fact it was attached to his skull. "YOU WERE MAKING BETS ON ME!?"

Anko lazily looked at him and then answered with a peppy voice she was sure would aggravate the blond. "Yep! This is my alcohol money!" For added effect, she waved some of her money in the air, earning hungry glances from ninjas hailing from poorer shinobi villages.

For one of the few times Naruto could recall in his life, he was at a lost for words. Even looking back on this moment, he couldn't think of a good come back like normal. He tried to say something, but the words caught in his throat. Instead, he just shook his head in exasperation, rubbing the side of his face.

Hinata was confused as to who this woman was, and slightly petrified by her mere presence, but somehow Naruto had a connection with whoever this was. That fact was enough for her to calm down.

When she paid closer attention to both of them and studied their eyes, she could sense an ease she was very familiar with. It felt like the thing Hanabi and she shared, but it was far closer and warmer between the two. Were they related? No… Anko didn't have those silver pupils like Naruto. But how could they be so close… like a big sister and a little brother.

A couple of desks above Naruto and Hinata, Ino shrunk away with wide eyes. If Anko was the second exam proctor, everyone was dead. Shikamaru noticed it and knew that things were about to get very, _very_ troublesome. Ino wasn't normally one to be scared of anyone, but if she quivered at the mere sight of this crazy lady, then they were in deep shit.

If Sasuke wasn't so calm, he might've screamed out in public while pulling out his hair. Then he would've proceeded to smash his head repeatedly into his desk.

The memory of slipping on one of Anko's undergarments and then landing into a pizza several weeks old was still very fresh in his mind. Even now he shivered at the thought of feeling that moldy crust and clay-like pizza sauce in between his fingers. Of course, the sight of Anko's bra wasn't something he particularly savored either.

If she was the proctor of the next part of the exam, Hell was about to be released upon the earth in nine different ways. Should he put the knife to his throat now or later?

Curious, he turned to Sakura to see that she was pale and biting on her lip. At least he wasn't alone in his fear. At least she never had to experience the embarrassment he did at Anko and Naruto's apartment. Had a camera been nearby, Naruto would've been flashing it like the paparazzi hanging out beside the red carpet at the opening of a new movie.

"Alright maggots!" Anko shouted to the class, making some of the genin with low constitutions want to run out of the room for the hope of escaping the insane jounin. "Join me outside, and I'll explain what the hell is going to happen! Just remember that I'm going to cut your numbers to less than half by the time I'm done with you."

Naruto couldn't help but blanch.

* * *

Anko stopped in front of a large gate, forcing the large troop of genin to follow her action. On the sign above, it read 'forbidden' and even higher than that it read 'Training Area Forty-One.'

Naruto could've sworn he saw a snake a hundred feet in length slithering nearby.

"Alright maggots!" Anko shouted to the group, if possible, wearing a grin that seemed more psychotic than normal to Naruto. "This is Training Area Forty-One, lovingly called the Forest of Death. There's a reason it's called that."

She stopped her narrative as she heard a snicker. In her mind, it sounded as if something fragile had broken. Nobody made fun of her training area, not even the perpetrator that was the blond brat with _Kyoukagan_ eyes!

"Yeah, sounds so terrifying," Naruto sarcastically said, earning some more snickers from the genin around him. Others, though, looked at him as if he had just grabbed a shovel to dig his own grave with.

Naruto's carefree smile was wiped away as he moved his head to the side, dodging the kunai his sister had thrown at him. Looking from the kunai to her, he could see he said something he wasn't supposed to. But at the current moment, and inside Naruto's mind, Anko opened a can of worms.

"Three, two, one," Sasuke counted off with his patented smirk, making Sakura raise an eyebrow at his weird gesture.

It was only a second later she discovered just what Sasuke was counting down.

"YOU SADISTIC BITCH!" Naruto yelled, holding the cut he earned on the side of his cheek. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?!"

"FOR MAKING FUN OF MY TRAINING AREA!" Anko countered.

"WHY DOES IN HELL DOES IT MATTER!?" Naruto shouted back, feeling his _Kyoukagan_ being instinctively fed chakra.

"And there off…" Sakura muttered, shaking her head in embarrassment.

All the genin turned their heads, following the smack-talking with their eyes and then switching to the other when that person sent out another come-back. It didn't come down to mere name calling, but there was a lot of bagging on the other's characteristics. Naruto was stung by a comment on his height, but Anko was smoothly countered with something aimed at her slob-like habits.

"I KNOW WHERE THE HELL YOU SLEEP!" Anko yelled, making all the genin 'ooh' as if someone had dealt a severe blow.

They wouldn't want this crazy bitch to know where they slept, mainly out of fear of what she was capable of doing.

"I KNOW WHERE YOU SLEEP TOO," Naruto countered, "BUT I WOULDN'T STEP FOOT IN THERE, NOT UNLESS I WANT TO STEP ON ONE OF YOUR DIRTY THONGS!"

Anko blushed, both out of fury and humiliation. She cursed herself for not coming up with something better. Naruto could be a witty little bastard when he wanted.

Every one of the present wannabe ninjas looked at Naruto with a sense of awe at having just outwitted probably the craziest person on the planet. Sasuke and Sakura shivered and cringed at the thought of such a sight. What horrors did their friend have to brave just to go to bed?

"Here's the kunai you dropped."

Suddenly a sense of discomfort filled the air, most of it coming from Anko who suddenly locked up. Naruto could practically taste it in the air, and for some odd reason, a sense of horrid dread filled his mind. For the life of him, though, he couldn't place his finger on the cause.

He saw the kunai and followed along the pale red appendage holding it, finding a Grass-nin holding it with nothing but his extremely long tongue. Just staring at the genin, he could tell something was off; something didn't bode well with Mr. Freaky at all. If anything, Naruto's sense of dread magnified greatly just by looking at him –or her; he couldn't tell, but he felt safe to assume it was a male.

"Thanks," Anko slowly said, cautiously taking the kunai into her hand. The blond watched as the woman death gripped it, seemingly on the caution for absolutely no reason.

She kept her eyes on the genin the whole time as she put away her knife, then instinctively sending her hand to grip a particular spot on her shoulder. Naruto imagined that was the spot where the 'cursed seal' was placed. It was just barely a couple days ago he discovered she rubbed or gripped onto it whenever she was extremely uncomfortable or nervous. This time, she was in a mixture of both said emotions.

Anko was uncomfortable, more so than she could recall being in a very long time. She watched with cougar-like eyes as the tongue receded back into the mouth of its owner. That technique was eerily familiar to one she remembered belonging to a particular _someone_ she hated.

She tried to mentally shrug it off as a coincidence, merely a genin just reinventing the attack for his use, but for some odd reason it lingered in her head. It couldn't be just a coincidence, but then again, Orochimaru might have the balls to step foot back into the very home he betrayed. But she couldn't prove it –not yet at least.

"Alright," she said, returning to a professional level, but keeping a particular eye on the ugly genin. "I'm feeling nice today, so I'm going to give you all an extra day to pack up what you need. Prepare for five days. Meet me here at the same time tomorrow and if you aren't here on time, I'll fail you."

"How sad," everyone turned their attention back on the genin. Naruto felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end at the mere sound of that high pitched, squeaky voice. "I was hoping to fight today. Oh well, tomorrow should come quite quickly."

Anko said nothing, instead choosing to dismiss all the genin with a wave of her hand, making them all scatter like cockroaches in a lighted room. She began to walk away, but made a motion with her head for Naruto to follow.

When he walked up next to her and they got out of ear range of everyone else, Anko quietly spoke to him.

"Listen, and listen well," she whispered. Naruto paid close attention knowing how serious of a moment this was. "I wasn't supposed to give you that extra day, but you better keep your ears on me, or I'll never forgive you."

He knew she was being serious. The playful aura usually surrounding her was now gone and replaced with something more related to a highly cautious prudence, trained by years of being a jounin. Anko was in full shinobi mode, but what was it about that genin that spooked her so badly?

"I want you, Sakura, and Sasuke," she warned, "to be absolutely cautious inside that forest. I may be worrying about nothing, but better to be careful than careless. If you meet that genin again I want you to run away as fast as possible."

"No need to tell me twice," Naruto agreed, feeling her warning sinking in like a rock in water.

Unknown to the two, they were being watched by a genin with the insignia of a half sun and half moon on her headband.

Their only danger wasn't just the creepy genin.

* * *

"My student has become quite foolish," the ugly genin said to his self as he walked away. "I thought she'd be much smarter than that to attach herself to someone, especially someone like that."

When he turned the corner, he sunk into the building, disappearing into the bricks as if it was water. It didn't take long for him to come out the other side, but when he did, one of his hands went up to his face. If anyone had been there to watch inside that supply room, they might've watched with horror as the face was peeled away to reveal pale skin and yellow snake eyes.

"It will be very fun tomorrow," the snake told himself, speaking in a much deeper voice. "Sasuke-kun will be there to entertain me, and maybe even become my new container."

He put his hand up to his chin as he thought of something just as entertaining. Anko had become too soft while he was away. It was time to give her a refresher of just who her sensei was.

"Maybe while I'm at it, I'll kill her little toy. After all, he's on the same team as Sasuke-kun."

Whoever this dark being was, he sunk into the ground while laughing maniacally.

* * *

Naruto was leaning his head on the coffee table in the center of the living room. He was currently watching as Anko downed liquor like the madwomen she was. Funny enough, it was only two in the afternoon, a little early in Naruto's opinion to get drunk. But then again, his older sister figure wasn't kidding when she said she was going to use the money she won for alcohol.

To get more comfortable, she got a change of clothes, now consisting of nothing but a tank top and beige shorts. The zipper and button were undone, allowing Naruto to see her purple underwear, but with what little time he already spent with Anko, he practically became immune to such sights. It was awful; she had absolutely no sense of dignity. Thankfully, he had yet to see her nude, but such a sight might make him want to gouge out his eyes the moment it might happen.

Anko just finished her second to last bottle of rice beer. Her cheeks were now flushed from all the alcohol she in her system. Naruto had to give it to her: She could hold more than _fifteen_ bottles of the liquid and not even get close to vomiting all over the place. She got fully drunk after the eleventh bottle, and now she was working on her last one –the twenty-fourth he believed.

When she got the last drop out of the bottle, she turned it upside down and shook it, not wanting to waste a single bit of it. Nothing came out, prompting the woman to shrug and then throw it over her shoulder, making it go out the window. The sun-kissed boy heard a cat hiss and then yowl at getting hit by the glass item.

"I hate my job," Anko said out of the blue, obviously fueled by her intoxication. Her speech was slurred and she was starting to sway, despite the fact she was sitting down.

"Why would that be?" Naruto amusedly asked.

Better to play along; Anko was now highly unpredictable. He knew first hand there were three types of drunks: the quiet ones, the emotional ones, and the angry ones –emotional ones were the funniest, especially when it was someone who was normally uptight and serious; it was worth a million ryo to see them spilling their guts about their love problems. It was up until this moment he couldn't classify Anko into these categories; he was well aware of her love of beer, especially with all the piles of cans and bottles of the substance in their apartment.

"Because I don't get to see Iruka-kun that often!" she whined, attempting to lean her head on her hand, only to miss and hit the table. It didn't matter, though; she just kept her head on the table.

"Why? Do you like Iruka-sensei or something?" he was afraid of the answer, but curious nonetheless.

"Like him?" she sounded slightly offended, even as she stood up, wobbling like any other person who consumed too much alcohol. "I ABSOLUTELY LOVE HIM!" Anko finally shouted triumphantly, raising one of her hands for added effect.

"That's nice," Naruto thought aloud.

That wasn't good. In the future, Iruka was going to get saddled with a very crazy lady as his wife. At least he would be the sane half.

But this moment finally allowed Naruto to classify the type of drunkard Anko was: She was indeed an emotional drunk. He smirked as he thought of all the dirt she'd practically yell out loud, and all he needed was a bottle of tequila for the fun to begin.

He was about to grill his older sister for more blackmail on herself he could possibly use for later, but the alcohol finally went to her head. Anko's eyes rolled into the back of her sockets and she fell backwards into a pile of cans, all the while smiling like an idiot. Obviously, she'd be dreaming of Iruka.

For a second, he thought about grabbing a marker (a permanent one) and taking it to her face, mainly as revenge for throwing the kunai at his cheek, but he felt he should value his life a bit more. With a hangover, Anko would be moodier than usual, and therefore more liable to kill him out of annoyance.

"What am I going to do for the rest of the day?" Naruto pondered to himself.

For starters, he needed to head to town and pick up enough supplies for five days. It was going to be ugly in the Forest of Death, and he was pretty sure if it wasn't for the fact she was going to be passed out until morning, Anko might've taken him out for supplies.

Shrugging, he grabbed his black jacket off the couch and made his way to the front door, but not before putting his goggles on.

He looked back at his sister and thought about being nice and picking up Anko, throwing her onto her bed and leaving some aspirin for later, but that'd be too nice for his taste. Besides, she needed to suffer and learn that too much alcohol wasn't good for her.

With that, he was out into the noon air.

* * *

Naruto smiled as he walked through the streets with a brand new backpack full of supplies, courtesy of Hotaru who had smiled as he handed him the bag. It was weather proof and had a large amount of pockets capable of holding rations, a sleeping bag on top, weaponry, and whole bunch of other stuff.

And the best part was that he got it at a discount.

He hoped to see Tenten, but Hotaru said she was out training since she passed the first part of the exam. With a final congratulation for passing the beginning of the exam, Naruto was now heading to his favorite training spot.

The blond stopped suddenly as he felt a Bloodline Limit on the outer reaches of his _Kyoukagan_ on the rooftops above, but couldn't quite identify who it was, mainly because the owner was just out of range of the radius. Shrugging it off as just some random person, Naruto continued on with a quick shake of his shoulders.

That was also something odd he found out about his _Kyoukagan's_ Limit sensing capabilities. Not only was its full range limited, but the closer he was to a Limit user, the more he could tell about the person. At one part of the radius, he could just sense them; closer, he could pick apart the signature of the Bloodline, even as far as to identify what kind it was; even closer still, he could sense the feelings of the person. It was actually often Bloodline Limit owners skitted the edges of his sense, but he ignored those without much thought.

He kept going, still with joyous steps, but stopped with a happy smile as he found some spare pocket change. But as he bent down to pick it up, his silver eyes allowed him to pick up something off: the person stopped when he did. Naruto grunted angrily as he realized someone was following him, and it was quite apparent that this person was a tracker, otherwise normal Bloodline users –even Iruka was prone to this- would stupidly stumble onto his radar.

Finding he wanted to be rid of the annoyance, he pretended as if he never sensed anyone.

He went in various zigzag directions, and even took a couple random alleys he knew –mainly he learned about from trying to escape pissed off Chunin during his academy days. Even then, the person followed like a bloodhound on a scent. He even resorted to jumping backwards with the hopes of catching the mystery person off guard; he came close, but the person immediately backed off before he could identify the person.

"Ah, that's it!" Naruto finally yelled in aggravation, grabbing his head in a comical manner and earning a couple raised eyebrows from the nearby populace. Some of them thought the village pariah was finally going nuts.

He leapt to the rooftops and began to head to Training Area Seven at high speeds. Naruto hoped his speed might be enough to make the person lose his trail, but the person stayed on his tail and just far enough away that it was like trying to swat an annoying bug away from the edges of his radar.

At long last, he landed on the training grounds and caught his breath. Naruto thought he lost the annoying person, but groaned and held his head as he felt the person step barely in range of his _Kyoukagan_ once more. Grinding his teeth, he stood up and dropped his new bag next to the monument.

This person deserved a royal ass kicking for bugging him more than Anko at a dango shop!

"Alright, I know you're there, so come out!" Naruto yelled, pointing at the direction of the person.

When no one came out, he lost it. Instinctively, he dug into his senbon holster and launched one of the needles at the tree the person was hiding behind. He wasn't disappointed when someone fell on their bottom from shock, though the person he saw wasn't quite what he was expecting.

The pale-eyed Hinata squeaked as she jumped back up, covering her mouth with both of her hands. She hadn't anticipated Naruto picking up on her like that, not after several of the training sessions she went through with Kurenai-sensei.

This was at the top of her ten most embarrassing moments in her life… but she _had_ to know. Even after they left to ready for tomorrow, she _had_ to find out about those beautiful silver eyes.

"Oops," Naruto said to himself. If he'd known it was Hinata, he might've been nicer. "Uh, sorry." He smiled nervously, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "I don't take too well to being followed."

"S-sorry," she stuttered as she began to fidget with her fingers. It was kind of cute, Naruto noted. "But I… I had to k-know about them."

Naruto cocked his head to the side in confusion. "Know about what?"

"Y-your eyes," she quietly answered, shrinking even more.

It had only been a couple of minutes ago she decided that she was going to step out of her comfort zone with the hopes of understanding Naruto a little bit more.

She then became worried as Naruto looked shocked momentarily, but then a foxy smile traced his lips.

"Oh, you must be talking about my _Hyouton_!" he proudly exclaimed while snapping his fingers. Yamato-sensei taught him some excuses for moments like these; their rule in such a moment when someone saw too much was to let them have only a small slice of the whole pie. "Ice manipulation is pretty cool, huh?"

Hinata fiddled with her fingers again. She knew what she saw. It was definitely not an Elemental Bloodline Limit, but now that Naruto said it, this was probably his second Limit –just like she thought earlier.

"B-but, w-w-what about your Doujutsu?" she prodded some more, though it was a thousand times more gentle than some of the other methods used by certain members of Team Seven. Naruto knew he could take whatever they dished out, but Hinata was a little different; he couldn't lay a finger on her and not feel guilty.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Naruto said, completely blowing off what she said. This tactic was his last resort. "My eyes are still blue."

The heiress knew that she was getting nowhere. If anything, it only proved that Naruto was trying his absolute best to make sure no one –and she really meant _absolutely no _living soul- knew about the wondrous gift he had. But here was thing she didn't understand: why hide it?

Naruto was now desperate to get away from her. Normally, he might tear a person limb from limb if they knew so much. But now his secret was shattered and prone to the world, and the one person he couldn't willingly harm discovered it.

_How,_ he thought to himself_, how did she find out?_ Naruto took a closer look at her, and almost slapped himself knowing he should've paid more attention during to the people around him._ It's her eyes!_

"You saw them… didn't you?" he asked quietly, his eyes wide with a mixture of emotions.

Hinata softly nodded her head again, completely worried about what he might do. She could sense the numb shock in his voice. It was one of those moments she needed navigate the waters carefully, or otherwise blow everything out of the water.

He now felt more prone than he could ever recall feeling. Could she see Kyuubi? What else about him could she see he couldn't? It felt so weird to have the mask he cultivated all his life suddenly crumble in front of him, and all because of a quiet little girl he never thought of staying away from.

At that moment, Hinata had a brilliant idea: Maybe Naruto thought his eyes were really awful looking like her own.

She wringed her fragile looking hands as she took the leap of faith. "I… I thought y-your eyes were v-very pretty."

The blond was caught completely off guard by what she said. He thought his own eyes were amazing looking, but their beauty just seemed to fade the more he learned about them. Mizuki's death was something that would be forever ingrained into his memory, even if he didn't like the man. But for somebody to come up to him and remind him that sometimes flowers had their thorns, an even deeper appreciation of that beauty would bloom forth.

For the first time in what he could recall in a long time, he abandoned the mask. Hinata couldn't place what emotion Naruto was feeling; it could have been a mixture of longing, sorrow, or just plain dumbfounded awe.

"You… You do?" His voice caught in his throat.

All Hinata did was nod her head with a sincere smile. It was different to see Naruto not acting goofy and high strung, but she felt sympathy for him, especially with all of the insecurity he was showing. They were so much alike, more so than she ever truly thought.

"I… I hate them," he whispered, feeling tears well up in his eyes.

"I h-hate mine t-t-too," she told him, knowing exactly how he was feeling.

Naruto now didn't know how to look at her. She hated her eyes? Why? "I like them." He told her with a wiry smile.

It was Hinata's turn to smile. Yes, they both were so much alike.

Naruto took off his goggles, revealing the mirror silver to Hinata. At that same time, he also cried, but they were tears of joy. The cool feeling of frigid steel against his face felt refreshing, but even more so because they weren't the tears of sadness he cried before.

Both of them smiled; for Naruto, it was because he had a new friend, and the first one his own age. Hinata softly smiled because now she could be with him.

* * *

Iruka scrutinized the passed-out Anko, all the while putting his hands on his sides. He stood over her form, watching as she snored loudly with a string of drool making its way down the side of her face. The teacher clicked his tongue at her habits.

At the moment, he needed her awake. To do this, he picked her up and slapped her a couple times across the face, but all that did was make her head hang limply to the side while she continued to snore.

It was also at that moment Iruka discovered that she sleep talked. "Why are you wearing that funky underwear?"

"Huh?" Iruka thought aloud.

What the hell was she dreaming about? Scratch that; he didn't even want to know what was going through her head right now.

Not getting what he needed, he sighed as he picked her up and laid her on the couch. Before he left, he made sure to grab some aspirin and a glass of water and then sat the items on the nightstand near the couch. In the future he was going to have to watch Anko's drinking habits.

He spared the apartment one last glance. Naruto was right, Anko was a slob. She also wasn't the best roll model, but at least his surrogate little brother had the common sense to not do the things she did. Even then, she truly did care about his well being, more than almost all the people in the village combined. That was what Naruto needed, someone who cared and loved him; and he was what Anko needed to get over the wounds of the past.

With one last sigh, he closed the front door behind him.

His intentions were to find Naruto and give him some last minute training, but he couldn't find the little monster. He thought it was a smart move of Anko to give everyone one day to pack up for the next part of the exam, especially since it was going to be much more difficult.

Looking at his clock, he could see it was ten past seven. The sun was starting to head over to the horizon where it would rest for the night.

Iruka leapt onto the rooftops, activating his _Hyakurai_ with the hopes of finding the blond troublemaker quickly.

* * *

"W-why d-d-did you name it _K-Kyoukagan_?" Hinata asked as she sat on a rock, hugging her knees tightly as she watched Naruto pick up some flat stones and then skip them across the water.

It was now twilight, and the sky was a beautiful summer orange.

"Well, I want to say I named it," Naruto said, staring out into the water, as if hoping to see Haku there, "but, I really think it was more Haku than me. After all, it was in his room I named it, mainly because of the flowers he had near the mirror."

It was such a poetic name; Hinata absolutely loved it. But she had yet to know what it did. They had yet to speak of their Limits, avoiding the mere mentioning of them like they were taboos.

During their time together, the duo had gotten to know each other well. They were a lot alike, with people looking down on them and having only a few close friends that seemed to care about their well-being. Hinata was mistreated by her own clan, something Naruto wouldn't wish upon anybody. He wouldn't want to be hated by his own family; compared to Hinata's life, he was glad it was just the village hating him.

Neither of them liked pity; Naruto didn't like people pretending to care for him just because of his plight, but Hinata didn't like it because it made her feel weaker than she was already.

Other than that, they talked about mundane things, like what they liked to do, what they did in their spare time, learned more about the people that cared for them, and so on. It was new to them to act like they were talking to a close friend. But that was what they became, best friends to each other, two outcasts wanting the comfort of another. Both couldn't have been happier.

"So, what does your Limit do?" Naruto asked, turning the silvery eyes Hinata liked so much onto her.

"I-it is called_ B-Byakugan_," she answered softly, looking away. "It a-allows me to see t-three hundred and sixty d-d-degrees, but I-I can also see through things too. Its best a-ability is to be able to s-see the chakra coils, a-allowing us to use our Jyuuken to clog the coils a-and prevent others from using chakra. W-w-we can also see far away."

"Jyuuken," Naruto cocked his head to the side as his mouth moved, "what is that?"

"It is a-a-a form of taijutsu," she continued to explain, "that attacks f-from the inside out. Normal taijutsu is m-meant to break b-bones and harm from the outside, b-but Jyuuken doesn't do that."

"That's pretty cool," he said with a smile, taking a seat next to her to watch the sunset. "Well, I guess it's my turn to explain mine."

From there, he started from the beginning, telling all he had learned about his _Kyoukagan_. Naruto told her about it awakening the first time (omitting the parts about the Kyuubi –it was one thing to talk about his Limit; it was another thing entirely to talk about his inner demon), how he learned what it did, about his trip to Zabuza and Haku's hideout, his meeting with Yamato-sensei, and any other details he could think of.

Through the whole explanation, Hinata clung to each word escaping his mouth. Such power… How he could grow so much by just gaining another Limit, but she also imagined just how many people would be out for his head. In Konoha alone he was threatened in several ways by the clans, either through marriage proposals or the threat of stealing his blood.

But she felt so bad for him. Haku, a person he connected with, died that day. She wished she could've met him at least once; he sounded so nice on and off the battlefield. The purity the _Hyouton_ user carried was amazing. To have never killed a shinobi even unto death was amazing and a feat that many wouldn't be able to claim.

The thoughts of Naruto being in danger returned to her with an even greater force. Another Great Shinobi War would break out if anyone found out about the _Kyoukagan_, all for the sake of the very life liquid running through his veins.

"Naruto…" she muttered with fear.

He just chuckled. "Even if they wanted my blood, they'd have to survive it. It's so poisonous that Mizuki-Teme died when he put some onto a kunai and stabbed himself." The blond shivered as he recalled Mizuki's dead, blackened eyes staring back at him. "That wasn't my favorite memory."

"I-I didn't t-t-think he was good teacher anyways," Hinata muttered to herself, earning a healthy guffaw from her new best friend.

"Yeah, I didn't think so either! Hey, did you know that Iruka-sensei is actually an S-class ninja?"

"Really?"

"Yep, he's where I got my _Hyakurai_ from. I just wished I paid more attention during class. If I'd known that, I might've worshiped the ground he walked on."

They sat there for a couple minutes, just basking in the other's company. Both watched as the sun dipped halfway past the horizon, and steadily declined as time slowly fluttered away.

Hinata would be more than willing to say she still had a crush on Naruto, but she wasn't going to tell him that. She wasn't going to allow her own emotions to get in the way of their friendship, and she didn't want to make him uncomfortable every time they met. For the time being, she would squash those feelings, but only for a short period of time. They would eventually rise up again, but not yet.

But then another thought came into her head, one that she wasn't so sure she understood about her friend. He could copy any Bloodline Limit at will, but he hadn't copied hers yet. Why would he do something like that? Anybody else would've been going crazy about it.

"N-Naruto-kun," she asked, turning away from the sun with the hopes of him answering such a question. "Why h-haven't you c-c-copied my Limit yet?"

Naruto looked to her, processing what he was going to say. It was a deeper answer than she knew. He had his reasons; reasons that involved why he hated using the _Sharingan_, why he wanted to ask people permission to do such a thing even when he could steal for his own benefit. And he knew exactly how to explain it.

"Whenever I copy someone's Bloodline Limit," he said, talking in an emotion Hinata couldn't identify, "it's like taking away a piece of the person and then keeping it with me everywhere I go."

Naruto thought of everyone he knew, and all the Limits he copied. It was actually a very intimate thing to copy such a valuable piece of a person. Mimicry was supposed to be one of the sincerest forms of courtesy available to a human being, but it was also a deep form of sincerity, wanting to be so much like a person you copy them.

"That's why I hate the _Sharingan_," Naruto continued, this time turning his eyes to the sky where the brighter stars were just barely peaking beyond the veil of sunlight. "It was the first Limit I copied, but…" he tried to find the proper words to describe, "it felt like I stole it from Sasuke, but I know… I know we're the most alike of anyone here. That's why I hate him at the same time. I want so much to ask him –to be like him- but I don't want to at the same time."

She could understand now. He felt like he carried pieces of a person's very soul with him everywhere he went. That was why he didn't jump at a chance to copy a person's Limit.

Hinata stood up, making Naruto look at her. "P-please copy mine."

He couldn't help but sadly smile at her. Naruto nodded his head as he stood up, shattering his eyes at the same time. For the young heiress, it felt peculiar to stare into his eyes; she was pressed to look away, but she kept on gazing hypnotically at them. Finally after a couple seconds, Naruto nodded his head to show he completed the process. Now he had another Doujutsu in his arsenal.

"Thanks, Hinata-chan," he said. "Thanks for being my best friend."

Hinata couldn't help it as she blushed under the usage of the suffix.

Yes, they were best friends, outcasts of the very society they served so loyally, and they wanted to stick together through thick and thin.

Both of them turned around as they heard someone clear his throat, greeting their sight to a smiling Iruka.

"I'm sorry Hinata, but I'm afraid you might want to head home before your father finds out you've been out for so long," he gently ordered, making the girl look down at the ground in disappointment. "But don't worry; after this business with the Chunin exam, you two should be able to hang out more often."

She looked back up with a soft smile before nodding. Iruka and Naruto waved at her as she left the clearing. The scarred Chunin then turned his attention back onto the blond, wearing a deciphering face.

"Hinata found out, didn't she?" Iruka asked, seeing that Naruto's goggles were hanging around his neck, letting his eyes glint in the waning light.

Naruto merely nodded and then said: "She won't tell anyone, though."

"Even then, I'm still worried," Iruka thought aloud. "I imagine she found out with her _Byakugan_, but if she did, that means it's possible for her clan members to find out as well. If that's the case, be absolutely careful whenever you're around Hyuga members."

The blond nodded again.

"But, I'm glad that you have a new friend," Iruka finished with a friendly smile. He then watched as the sun set behind the horizon, bringing about the nightly darkness. "I intended to give you some last minute training, but I was a little late in finding you. How 'bout dinner at Ichiraku's?"

Umino almost wanted to regret his words the moment Naruto let a foxy smile light up his face.

* * *

Jiraiya took a deep breath as he entered the gates of Konoha, walking at a relaxed pace after having just ran almost the entirety of the Land of Fire. It was good to be home.

He smiled lecherously at the thought of being at the dedication of the new bathhouse. All of the naked woman would be there! Oh, the material he could gain for his books! Life was looking up. He'd be there tomorrow, but now he needed to rest after such an arduous journey.

Before he walked any further, he stared up at the Hokage monument, looking particularly at the face of Namikaze Minato.

"I'm home only for a little bit… son," he sadly told himself.

Author's Note: UGH! What a long chapter! Holy crap, I think it took me at least two weeks just to get through it. But hey, it's good for you guys that like this story so much. Keep the reviews coming!

I unfortunately didn't get as far as I wanted. If I continued anymore, the chapter might have been a little hard to read and I didn't want that. So, next chapter will definitely be Bloody Sigil, and it will reveal one of the surprise Limits, which was something that I didn't intend for.

The Hinata/Naruto bonding moment was cute, but the pairings are not confirmed. Next chapter, we'll have a Naruto/Ino moment as well. Sakura and Naruto's friendship will build steadily since they are teammates and Tenten will be a harder challenge, but I will get a bonding moment for the two, but when, I couldn't tell you. Just be patient, I'm trying my best to set up to where Naruto can hook up with any girl. No, this is not going to be a harem.

Next chapter, we'll learn a bit more about the transcendent Bloodline Limits and what sets them apart from the rest. Also, we'll get a peak at the final ability of the Kyoukagan, but the chapter after the next will we see a battle between Orochimaru and Naruto, but we'll also see a surprise that I've been saving since I came up with the idea of this story. We're just going to see how things roll out.

I also think that this has to be one of my funniest chapters to date. The Anko/Naruto moments were absolutely priceless and many of the jokes from there are some that my brother and I have gone through.

Nothing new to put down here. Best be seeing you next chapter!


	11. Bloody Sigil

**Chapter 11- Bloody Sigil**

Naruto shot up, scattering droplets of sweat across his bed. His eyes were wide in fear, remembering the vision he just had.

He ran a hand across his face as he felt frigid metal pressing against his cheeks, his silvery tears running down the side of his face. That wasn't right; he didn't remember crying, not even in the dream.

With a sigh, his head landed on his pillow as he thought back to the dream. It ran through his mind every time he slept, and he woke at least six times in the past couple hours. Now he didn't want to go back to sleep, otherwise he'd just have it again.

It was the same one he experienced during the Chunin Exam. The dream followed the exact same pattern, him running through a maze of mirrors until he hit the room where the silver flower bloomed. Then he would mess around in there until things got weird. And like the first time and every time he had the dream, he became engulfed in the silver liquid, or whatever it was. Only one thing changed: whenever he woke up he was crying silver tears.

It was starting to make him nervous. This dream had to be something more. But who could he talk to that was capable of telling him what it possibly meant without freaking out? Dreams normally held no meaning, but if you kept having one, there was something fishy about it. He had to understand.

With a sigh, he got out of bed to change. He couldn't go to sleep now; besides, he was afraid of that dream, though he couldn't put his finger on why.

He grabbed his clothes and quickly slid off his pajamas as he let his mind wander. Anko was out of the question to talk to. She was still in her drunken stupor and wouldn't wake until morning, or at least he hoped. Sometimes her moments lasted until noon the next day, and that was if she got drunk in the afternoon of the day before.

Naruto shook his head. He needed to keep the alcohol out of her reach for a while.

After he grabbed his black jacket, he opened the window and was gone, looking like a shadow in the darkness with his dark clothing.

Maybe all he needed was to clear his mind.

* * *

The night air felt cool against his skin and the moon shone brightly in the sky. It felt refreshing. Nobody was out, giving him freedom to pull off his goggles and show his eyes to the world.

He landed on a particular rooftop that overlooked the town square. The area was littered with shops and lights, but being minutes to midnight nobody was out, making the place look eerie but peaceful at the same time. At night, hustle and bustle was replaced by pure, unbridled tranquility.

The stands were dark and the street lamps scattered light in the midnight air where the moon couldn't touch. A fountain in the center of the square gently lulled, only adding to the serenity of the area.

Every so often when he was younger and couldn't sleep because of nightmares, he came here. It was the only way he could come visit here and never get a sneer or a curse aimed at him. He could also allow his reflective eyes freedom without threatening his life.

He sighed again as he thought about the second part of the exam and his sister's warning. That Kusa genin scared him, and there was something about said genin that left no qualms for Naruto about listening to Anko for once. It was hard to explain that feeling; it felt like treading near a dangerous serpent with every intention of killing you, but only when the moment was right and when the target was within reach.

Then he thought about Hinata and how they became friends, very close ones at that, and in such a short time. They were both so alike. For once he had someone he could lean on his own age and knew the pains he did, pains of loneliness and hatred given to them everyday. It felt good. But there was also the threat of Anko teasing him about getting a girlfriend. He wasn't quite that old yet, but the thought alone was enough to give him a blush.

Another thought that crossed his mind, though by far the least pleasant of all, was Sakura's and Sasuke's growing relationship. Ever since the Wave mission they became friends and have been inching closer to one another as time ticked away. And it made Naruto sick. Sakura was supposed to like him, not the prick! He was nice and the other guy acted like a… well… a prick! What did the shit-head have that he didn't? Good looks?

The more Naruto ranted about it in his mind, the more he steeled an idea: He was going to put a wedge in between the two!

An echo of all too familiar laughter rang through his head. Immediately, he regretted thinking such a thing, but it was too late to be repentant about having felt those emotions.

He jumped as he felt a hand touch his cheek. Naruto's eyes widened as he saw the Kyuubi standing behind him.

"What the hell are you doing out of your kennel, bitch!" he yelled, backing away in fear knowing she could touch him.

"That's so funny that I'm laughing on the inside," she told him as she folded her arms.

"I'll stop you before you harm the village!" Naruto shouted at her, pulling out a senbon. Instead, he only grabbed futilely at air.

"Looking for these?" Kyuubi asked, holding up his weapons. She then threw them across the roof, scattering them in a mess of metal.

"Such dark thoughts for someone who keeps pushing me away." Her eyes briefly became cat-like as she stared at him. "Admit it; you're just like me, a person with desires. You want them fulfilled. I can do it; you know it."

Naruto blinked his eyes, but the moment he did she disappeared. The next second, he felt a pair of warm arms wrap around him, and then felt warm breathe against his neck. It didn't take a second to realize his living nightmare was trying everything in the book tonight.

"Come, on Naruto," she whispered so seductively into his ears. Naruto couldn't help but shiver under her sweet voice. "Jealousy can be such a dark emotion. Why don't you become angrier more often? The darker you become, the closer you come to me. That's why I'm here," she pressed her face against his neck, making his skin crawl. "Because your black emotions call so longingly to me."

Naruto jumped away from her, wide-eyed and spooked. She looked upset that he slipped from her grasp, but it only lasted for a transient second. She then smiled cunningly, as if winning some kind game.

"I've always been interested in you, my container," she said, walking to him as he took steps backwards. "You teeter so close to the edge," even as she said it, Naruto could feel himself pressing against the railing. "You're a being between the light and darkness, a person stuck in the twilight."

"What are you talking about?" he asked nervously as he pressed harder into the cold metal of the railing, hoping to escape Kyuubi as she came closer.

"To deny me, Naruto, is to deny your darker half," she continued, causing him to flinch as she caressed his cheek. "The farther away from me you are the closer you are to the light, but know this." She leaned in and whispered in his ear. "Even the light devours."

She stepped backwards, a devious smile painting her lips, one that didn't bode well with Naruto. "They call me a monster? What a joke. You need me, Naruto. The closer to the light you step, the more likely you are to succumb to insanity."

He blinked and she was gone. Naruto spun his head, searching for her, but the only proof of his encounter was the scattered senbon.

"That… That couldn't have been a dream," he muttered to himself in wide eyed-disbelief.

His skin crawled at the memory of her skin against his own. It was a sensation he lustfully longed for, but, at the same time, he desired escape from such thoughts. She was just trying to use him for her own means. There was no other reason for her to act the way she did. Like any other demon, she was just looking for an escape route.

With shaky hands, he meandered to the senbon and began the arduous task of collecting them. It was difficult to put them in the holster since they vibrated under his touch. After an incident like that, though, who wouldn't be freaked out of their own skin?

The very being he imprisoned somehow wormed her way out of his mind and spoke to him, touched him. He could feel the longing, and he was pretty sure the Kyuubi could feel his every desire. That's why he hated her; she knew just the right buttons to push, the spots to tread, and the tender areas to touch to get her way. He hated being honest about such thoughts, but it was becoming difficult to deny her advances.

Still panting and sweating, he sat on the railing and mulled over what just happened. Gaining control of his body, Naruto scrunched up his face in thought as he analyzed everything.

The Kyuubi came out of his mind. There was no doubt about it, but there was something odd he noticed. Though she was out in the open, she lacked that aura of power she practically blanketed herself in inside his mind. But it still didn't explain much of what happened.

"Not a very good move, Silver-Eyes. It's not good to be by yourself," a voice next to his ear whispered.

Out of surprise and reflex, he jumped into the air and landed twenty feet away, his heart pounding and adrenaline coursing through his body. Naruto looked around for the perpetrator, but found nothing but thin air.

"It's also not good to talk to your self either," the voice continued, sounding almost amused. "But then again, the burst of chakra that made your senbon cartridge launch in the air was pretty weird."

Well that answered one question. It had to have been in his mind. But that _still_ didn't explain how the senbon cartridge launched itself from his belt.

Then he remembered what the voice had called him: Silver-Eyes. He cursed as he quickly put on his water goggles. Someone was out here and knew his secret. Either he killed them, or he captured the perpetrator and took him/her to the Hokage… or his sister, or someone he at least knew.

"Come out coward!" he yelled, goading his hidden enemy.

"Take off the goggles and I'll put mine on," a feminine voice shot back, though, with a hint of mischief and amusement.

Reluctantly he pulled them off. The person already knew his secret, so might as well. Slowly, his hand reached to his eyes and pulled off his wear, revealing the _Kyoukagan_ in its full glory.

He felt naked without the goggles on. If he fought, it would be the first time someone would see his eyes in full action –would it be possible for someone to decipher his abilities by looking at his eyes?

With a chuckle, the person appeared, but who it was… it was something Naruto never expected. There, standing before him was a girl about his age and height, putting on the eyewear she promised –a set of welder's goggles that made it impossible to see her eyes.

"Sorry," she said, "but without them, I have trouble controlling my Bloodline Limit."

Naruto looked her up and down, picking out anything that stuck out for when he needed to identify her. She was a petite thing, having the same height as Naruto; at the same time she was scrawny; a long braid of fiery-orange hair swayed behind her back. Her clothes were baggy; the pants were falling off of her seemingly frail frame –a set of white khakis with numerous pockets- and were supported by a belt decorated with a set of three thin kunai, longer than normal ones, but thinner and possibly faster when thrown. Her shirt of choice was a green tank top, the only tight piece of clothing on her frame, though it left her belly exposed being a half shirt. On her right arm was a fold-up knife, but Naruto couldn't tell what kind due to lack of lighting.

The one piece of her outfit that really stuck out was her headband. A half sun eclipsed by a crescent moon inscribed on the metal. She hailed from a village Naruto wasn't familiar with.

"Who are you?" Naruto asked; a name would give him the jackpot in identifying her.

She smiled. "My name is…" She stopped as she put a finger to her mouth, her lips twitching deviously. "Maybe I shouldn't tell. You might squeal on me for cheating."

"Cheating on what?" Naruto asked, not liking where this was going.

"Why, on the second part of the Chuunin Exam of course!" her smile widened even more. "But then again, the only way you could tattle is if you live."

"What do you mean?" Naruto took a step back in caution.

It was suddenly _very_ tempting to activate his _Hyakurai_ and wake up the entire neighborhood with a nice, loud thunderclap.

"There's only one way to cheat," she answered, almost as if she was talking about nothing big. "The only way is to kill the participants before the start of the test."

"Sorry, but I don't like your way of thinking." _Ah, crap! I have a feeling I'm not going to enjoy the next couple minutes!_ Naruto yelled in his mind.

"Well, okay, let me rephrase that," she said, holding up her hands. "I'm only killing particulars. Basically, the people who threaten me."

Naruto raised an eyebrow as he inched towards his kunai pouch. Something told him senbon were going to be useless in this fight; this was going to be far worse than his battle with Haku.

"What? Afraid of me?" Naruto asked out of both taunt and curiosity.

"Don't get me wrong," the girl said as she shrugged, "it's nothing personal like that. I don't fear you, or any of the other competitors. But there is such thing as feeling threatened."

"If that's true, aren't you threatened by Gaara or some of the other stronger competitors?"

She covered her mouth as she giggled, as if knowing something that everyone else didn't. "Silly, why would you think I'd feel threatened by them? I'm in a league of my own. They could never hope to touch me. I'd shatter their minds before they could come within a foot of me."

"That's a little arrogant," Naruto told her sarcastically.

"It's not a matter of arrogance," she shot back, cocking her head to the side. "It's a matter of truth. I admit, Gaara would give me a run for my money –he might even push me to my limits- but he could never beat me."

"Then why me? I'm supposedly the weakest genin in the group."

"If that's true, Silver-Eyes, I'll eat my sandals," she said with a knowing smile.

Naruto already didn't like her. She was so wistful, prodding into him and seeing deeply into his very being, but he couldn't tell why. At the same time, she seemed so capricious, acting so flamboyant when she was about to commit a murder.

"But I guess I should answer your question of 'why me?'" she said, snapping him out of his reverie. "It's simple," she pointed at his eyes, "you're like me. I knew it the moment I saw you freeze those students. I was curious about you at first; I had never seen an Elemental Bloodline Limit before, so I followed you to see more. Imagine my surprise, though, when I followed you during your game of tag with that girl and found out about your eyes."

_SHIT!_ Naruto yelled in his mind, along with a whole array of colorful words that would have made Anko blush. He took another step backwards, wide-eyed with shock.

She pointed accusingly at Naruto, wearing a devious smile. "A Limit that copies other Limits; a Limit that can create other Limits should the person come into contact your blood. That's a sign of a Transcendent Bloodline Limit, one of the Three Great Doujutsu! The _Kyoukagan_: the creator of all the other Limits in existence!"

"How… How do you know that?" Naruto asked in shock.

She snickered as she pulled off her welder's goggles, revealing closed eyes. As she slowly opened them, she spoke: "I know because I have the third one."

Then she looked at him. Her eyes weren't normal, even for a Bloodline Limit. Her irises were pearlescent green, changing shade as she moved, but at the same time they rippled with every movement she made.

"Look into my eyes," she said, no longer sounding whimsical, "the _Genzoume_ (Mirage Eye, lit. Phantom Image Eye)"

"What?" Naruto asked, not believing his eyes. He was staring at another Transcendent Limit? It was hard to believe, but she was there, staring at him with the most grotesque of all Doujutsu.

"Don't you know anything about the other Transcendent Limits?" she asked, closing her eyes. "Sorry. I would let you look at them longer, but it's hard to control my _Genzoume_. Effectively, I'm blind, otherwise if I open my eyes… let's just say that people that have tried to hurt me have turned into vegetables."

She put up her finger up to her lips as she thought of something. "Wait, you named the Unnamed Great Doujutsu? That's cool! I like _Kyoukagan_. It's very fitting."

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked nervously.

"You don't know the legend?" she asked, still keeping up her fanciful state with her eyes closed. "Well, I'm not surprised. Iwa does keep better track of history than any other of the Great Shinobi Nations. After all, this is a bedtime story for all the kids in Iwa, or at least from what I could remember last."

Now Naruto was curious. He knew nothing of the history of his Limit, but here was someone with knowledge he wanted. There was a always a piece of him ever since the day he named his Limit that desired to know where it came from, why it existed, and why he had to be the stupid one to get the damn thing.

"Tell me," he ordered.

"Well that's rude," she said, "but I suppose I could indulge you since you're going to die. Better to pass away knowing what kind of power you hold."

The girl took in a deep breath. "There were three brothers. Nothing was special about them, but they were close; all of them were together no matter what."

Naruto clung to every word as if these were instructions on how he was going to die. This may have been a story from Iwa, but in Konoha, it was as real as anything could be.

"One day, as they were tending their fields, three beings came to them. The three claimed to be the gods Tsukuyomi, Susano'o, and Amatarasu. Of course, the three brothers thought they were lying and told them to go away, but the gods refused, saying they had brought gifts for them, depending, though, on what they wanted. Thinking this was a joke the older brother stepped forward and said that he wanted a way to bring peace to the world. Joining his brother, the middle one said in a joking voice that he wanted to be able to make people's dreams come true."

The carrot top paused as she gathered her thoughts, but it only lasted for a second. "But the youngest brother stayed quiet. And when the gods asked what he wanted, he told them he wanted to give to people gifts of their own somehow. His voice held no mocking like his brothers' and his request seemed genuine.

"Moved by his sincerity, Amatarasu came to him, pricked her finger and allowed a drop of blood to fall into his eyes. Susano'o followed what his sister did, except he picked up a piece of dust and put into the oldest brother's eye. Tsukuyomi came to the middle brother and breathed into his eyes, making them water from how cool his breath was.

"'Tomorrow' Amatarasu told the brothers, 'you'll receive your gifts.' Thinking it was a joke, the brothers walked into their home and fell asleep. When morning came, that was when their eyes changed. The oldest brother's eyes became the rippling eyes, the _Rin'negan_, while the middle brother's eyes became the misty eyes, the _Genzoume_, and of course, the youngest brother held the unnamed silver eyes."

"Later, the eldest brother became the Sage of the Six Paths, creator of ninjutsu, the middle brother became the Sage of the Water Moon, creator of genjutsu, and the youngest brother became the Sage of the Silver Tears, creator of all of the Bloodline Limits that exist today."

"Is that it?" Naruto asked. That couldn't be all. Stories don't just abruptly cutoff without an ending. This was supposed to be a children's story, told by parents to their children in an effort to keep an old legend alive.

"There is more," she said wagging her finger, "but I'm afraid that if you want to learn it, you'll have to beat me. Unfortunately, it'll take millennia before you can touch me."

"Try me!" Naruto yelled, shattering his eyes instinctively and turning them into the blood-red of the _Sharingan_. If this doujutsu specialized in illusion, he needed something to see past them.

"Fool, do you think that something as weak as the _Sharingan_ can track me?" she taunted.

The girl slowly opened her eyes and the moment her eyelids passed her pupils, she disappeared from his sight. Naruto frantically looked around, but his scarlet eyes picked up nothing, not even footprints.

Failing to track her with his _Sharingan_, he turned to his _Kyoukagan's_ Limit sensing. He grimaced as he sensed nothing. Well… he did, but everything felt fuzzy, as if it was snowing or raining on his radar. To his dismay, he couldn't get past her invisibility.

_Why isn't my _Kyoukagan_ working?_ He thought while scanning the rooftops.

Then he felt a something grab his feet. Looking down, he found it to be a tree branch that was quickly snaking its way up his leg. He grabbed a kunai and attempted to cut it, but it went through it like it never existed. Finally, he cut himself on his leg with the expectation that the pain would make it go away, but even that didn't lift the illusion.

Naruto got desperate and changed his Limit, changing his eyes from scarlet to that of Iruka's. Electricity danced around him as he charged up and released a flash of lightning, dissipating the branch illusion, and making the girl's invisibility flash on and off.

"What a powerful Limit," she said as she slowly stood up, becoming transparent once more. "It's also a little dangerous if I come too close. How about I fix that?"

A flash light stunned Naruto's eyes, and then the next second he was thrown into the roof of the building next door. He slowly rose from the crater while breathing hard, but then could feel another hit connect, sending him into some railing. Before another of whatever-those-were made contact, he jumped to the other side of the roof, his _Hyakurai_ scanning everything around him.

He smiled as he sensed her bioelectricity. Illusion or not, it was hard to hide such a thing. Naruto charged his hand full of lightning. When his enemy came close enough he slapped, unleashing a flare of power and earning a scream of shock and pain from his opponent. Her invisibility finally shattered and she stood for all to see.

The girl clutched her heart as she felt it skip a beat or two, but then jumped to the side as Naruto raced at her with his arm cocked back. Her eye flashed with chakra, creating a wall of fire in front of her where she had looked at the ground. Thinking it was just another illusion, he jumped into it, only to jump backwards as he burned his hand.

Naruto quickly noticed her eyes glowing once again and jumped out of the way as a hand made out of stone came of the ground to choke him, but he quickly pulled out a kunai and threw it at the stone appendage. His eyes widened as he saw how his weapon went through the hand without making a sound.

Suddenly, stone hands sprouted out of everywhere. Just as he landed, two hands grabbed his feet, tripping him into a small garden of them. Several held him down while one went at his throat, choking him. Out of desperation, he charged up as much electricity as he could and channeled it through the roof, not caring if he blew up a couple light bulbs inside. The effect was immediate as all the hands disappeared, and an invisible girl fell off the lightning rod at the other end.

Getting up off the ground, Naruto pulled out a kunai and threw it at the girl, and before she could stand, he sent a huge arc of electricity at her. The night lit up as a huge boom pierced the tranquility, creating a crater of charred roof where the girl had been, but her carcass wasn't anywhere to be seen.

He looked up in time for her to drop out of the sky, her switchblade now open. Naruto jumped out of the way, but then jumped backwards as she suddenly appeared in front of him, slashing at him and giving him a cut on the arm.

When he jumped away, he could see that her switchblade was a butterfly knife. Normally a trade weapon of gangsters who think they could use a knife, most shinobi found them useless, just like all other switchblades, but for this girl to pick such a useless weapon out of the thousands that existed wasn't something he found himself understanding.

She played with the weapon skillfully, switching the blade in and out and playing with the brightly colored handle. Slowly she walked towards him and while she moved in close, Naruto switched Limits, returning his eyes to _Sharingan_.

At that moment, another tomoe added to his eyes, increasing the clarity of the area around him. But that didn't soothe his fears any.

The girl came close, and when she came in for the attack, Naruto's eyes registered what was going to happen.

_She's going to try and cut my left shoulder!_ He made a motion to block her attack, but instead, his right shoulder was split open. Before he could react, his _Sharingan_ sensed her attack aiming for his stomach. Like before he made an attempt to jump backwards, but instead of getting sliced at the stomach, the bridge of his nose busted open with blood gushing out.

Before he could analyze what was going on, he felt a long slice into his back, pushing him forward towards nobody, but he could then feel someone invisible make a downward slash, cutting from his left shoulder down to his right thigh. He fell to his knees and spat out the blood collecting in his mouth. Finally, his chest made contact with the roof, making his already laborious breathing harder.

"Sorry, it looks like I win," a voice he was coming to resent as much as Sasuke's told him.

Naruto looked up into her pearlescent, undulating eyes and only wanted to gouge out her precious _Genzoume_ more with every second he looked into them.

"Look on the bright side, I'll tell you my name since now you won't be able to tell anyone, speaking that you are going to die," she victoriously said. "My name is Shizuka Komoriuta. Remember it when you see the Shinigami."

Shizuka pulled her butterfly knife up, but before she could bring it down, something that looked vaguely like a rope of white-something wrapped around her wrist. Her surprised look was the last thing Naruto saw before the blood loss became too much even for his body. After another second, he passed out.

* * *

Naruto groaned as he rubbed his head. His body felt like someone had dropped a huge whale on it and then proceeded to repeatedly slam the giant fish against him until they grinded every bone in his body to nothing but dust. That had to be the most uncomfortable nap he could ever recall having.

"You picked the worst fight possible; you do know that right?" a voice told him.

"My head…" was all Naruto moaned out.

"Take this," the voice ordered.

The blond held out his hand and grabbed what felt like a cup of water –he wasn't sure; at the moment he was so disoriented that he couldn't tell his own ass from his head. In his other hand, he could feel a couple of pills enter his palm. Obviously it was aspirin. This wasn't a hangover, but it sure as hell was worse than one… not that he'd know what one felt like.

After chugging down the medicine and water, he rubbed his head and was relieved that his eyes were covered with his goggles. Otherwise, whoever this guy was, he'd find out about the _Kyoukagan_. Normally, Naruto would do his best to avoid strangers, but every single last one of his senses weren't working properly, and this guy did seem nice.

Taking a moment to figure out where he was, all he could see was a blurry world coming to focus at a snail's pace. The only thing he knew was that he was laying on a bed… a nice, soft, fluffy bed.

He recalled what happened during his romp through Konoha last night. He barely recalled his conversation with the Kyuubi and the spat between him and Shizuka. It all merely felt like a nightmare. And like any other nightmare, it felt so distant now that he was awake.

"Bad dream," he muttered as he rubbed his aching head again.

"Actually, that wasn't a dream," the stranger corrected. "The person you fought was Komoriuta Shizuka, a genin that hails from Hakubogakure no Sato, the Village Hidden in the Twilight, a small shinobi village between Iwa and Kumo. Unfortunately for you, you fought a very dangerous genin."

"I'll take you word for it," Naruto managed to moan out before he rubbed his eyes. "What time is it, where in hell am I, why do I feel like shit, and why do I keep feeling a sense of vertigo?"

"It's six minutes till seven," the stranger answered. "And to answer your second question, you're in my hotel room. Your racket last night was loud enough to wake me up from my beauty sleep, and since I couldn't fall asleep again I decided to investigate. To answer your next two questions, stick around."

"Do I have much of a choice?" Naruto asked sarcastically.

"Well, not until your senses correct themselves, which may take anywhere from a couple minutes to a couple hours, but they should be fine by the time you head to the Chuunin Exam."

The genin could then hear a low level fire technique going off and then for the smell of cigarette smoke, but with his higher than normal senses, he could tell that it was coming from a pipe, not a cancer stick.

He could just barely make out that he was in a white motel room, only marred by the fact that everything was blurry and the figure sitting at the bed next to his. With his sense of touch, he could tell he was still fully dressed. But that sense of vertigo wasn't loosening up yet.

"Alright, spill the beans," Naruto told the guy. "How the hell did she pull half that crap?"

The man chuckled, expelling more of the cigarette smoke in his direction. He could smell a hint of peppermint mixed in, obviously one of those flavored smoke-things or something like that. Or it was more than likely that the peppermint was just mixed in.

"Sorry," the man apologized. "It isn't very often I smoke, but once in a while I do when I need to calm my nerves. Anyways, for starters, all that happened last night was an illusion. The scars you got, everything. If you feel around, not even the fabric of your clothes have been ripped. Also, think back to the battle and how even though she kept hitting and slicing at you, the _Hyakurai_ couldn't shock her for some odd reason."

True to what he said, Naruto's clothes looked like he done nothing in them except sleep. And he did recall that even though she did make contact with him, she still never got shocked unless he tracked her and charged his electricity to hit a wide area. If what the man said was true, then all the pain, all the blood of his that was spilled was nothing more than an elaborate genjutsu?

The thought made Naruto uncomfortable knowing that particular branch of the ninja arts could be so deadly. Maybe he should've paid more attention to Iruka during that part of class, especially during the part where he explained how to break out of the optical illusions.

"The reason for this is because," the man continued, "the _Genzoume_ is aptly named. Its most effective ability is to create illusions so powerful that they can't be broken by normal means –hybrid genjutsu if you will. And the most dangerous part is the fact that whatever happens can come true. It's so great that had one of her illusions made a lethal blow, it would've killed you because the mind would've been fooled into thinking it actually happened. The only way to truly counter it is to strike the person behind the illusions, which you did every time you hit her with a blast of electricity."

Naruto's eyes were now beginning to focus, allowing him to see that the person had a big something on his back and his hair was unruly on top, but long enough to keep in a decent sized ponytail.

"Now, I got a question for you," the man told him. "Ever heard of the Kurama clan?"

Naruto shook his head. "Not really."

"Wasn't expecting you to have." The man gave off a large puff of his pipe, sending more peppermint-scented smoke into the air. "They're a clan from Konoha that specializes in genjutsu that, at first glance, seems as powerful as the _Genzoume_ genjutsu. This is far from true. The _Genzoume_ has a whole arsenal of abilities that put it in a whole different level, thus why it's called a Transcendent Bloodline Limit."

He was interrupted as the boy before him cut in. "My turn for a question. How do you know so much on Transcendent Bloodline Limits?"

"Shut up, brat, and I might tell you later. Believe me when I say I'm a lot older and I know more than you."

Naruto already did not like this guy.

The man took a second to empty his pipe of the burnt tobacco and peppermint and then to put it away.

"Now where was I? Ah, yes, now I remember! The _Genzoume_ has an arsenal of abilities, and unlike the Kurama which have just an unusual brain, _Genzoume_ users have an unprecedented nervous system which is needed for the illusions to be woven. Their senses are ten times greater than an average human, putting them on a pedestal as trackers greater than an Abarume and Inuzaka, and an I.Q. and thinking capacity just as great, if not greater, than your friend Shikamaru, who I believe to be the most gifted Nara born in a couple generations. They also have some of the greatest reflexes and balance on the planet, and I swear to the gods I'm not joking. Walking on wire comes as natural as breathing for them."

"Damn," Naruto mumbled, honestly impressed and jealous that his _Kyoukagan_ didn't have anything as fancy.

"Yeah, it gets better," the man said sarcastically. "Those abilities alone make _Genzoume_ users pretty dangerous, but their eyes have more uses than just projecting illusions, which is what really sets them apart. Never look directly into their eyes, otherwise they can get into your head, pick out information they want and then use it against you. Skilled users can even read your thoughts should you look them in the eyes, but I doubt Shizuka has that much skill yet. She's good, but not that good."

Naruto sighed in relief knowing that his secrets were safe… for the moment at least. The last thing he needed was information about his _Kyoukagan_ disclosed he didn't want leaked, such as its weaknesses and everything else. It also brought him some comfort knowing his secret about Kyuubi was still safe from the world.

But one thing was for sure: Should he have a rematch with Shizuka, he _had_ to be a thousand times more careful. He needed more information, though; everything had a weakness –even the greatest of all Limits had a chink in their impregnable armor.

"What else?" Naruto asked, watching as the ceiling began to come into focus, albeit slowly.

"I'm not done explaining her eyes. The other reason you never look into a _Genzoume_ user's eyes is because they gain the advantage and you end up having to play by their rules. This is because they get control of your senses early, which is a must in the art of genjutsu. Once that happens, they have free reign to do whatever the hell they want. Why do you think you feel like shit? Even though she wasn't able to kill you, she was kind enough to leave you with a parting gift of screwed up senses for a couple hours at the most."

"But if those were illusions," Naruto thought aloud, "then…" He caught himself before he could say anything about his _Sharingan_. "Could a _Sharingan_ work against her, or even a _Byakugan_?"

The man snorted in amusement. "I highly doubt it. If Shizuka was smart, she would've studied on the _Sharingan_ and the _Byakugan_ to figure out how they work. Then she'd be able to play with them like any other human being, only with the added spice of humor at the sight of them not knowing what the hell is going on. Like I said, her genjutsu is at an unreachable level, so strong it isn't hard to fool other Limits."

That did explain a lot. She simply knew how the _Sharingan_ worked and used its own abilities to her advantage. It was too much like controlling a marionette, and it wouldn't be hard to maneuver a person into a corner and then go in for a quick killing blow. The more he thought about Shizuka, the more invincible she seemed.

It also explained why he couldn't sense her with his _Kyoukagan_. Though she didn't know how his eyes fully worked, it was a sixth sense and therefore was under her control last night. By all means, she could've manipulated it to her use; thankfully, she didn't know about it.

"There are some weaknesses, though," the man said with a smirk.

Naruto turned to his blurry form almost like he had he was getting free ramen for life; now the most hyperactive ninja alive was paying attention.

"They're pretty deadly too. You did see that she was wearing a set of welder's goggles right?" Naruto nodded his head up and down. "The only time those come off is when she needs to use her eyes. Otherwise, if she didn't keep those on, she'd go blind permanently. The senses _Genzoume_ users pride themselves on are their very weakness. Loud sounds, too much pain or pressure on the body, too much light, powerful smells… all of that makes them as fragile as expensive fine china. Which also brings up another point, they need to make eye contact in order to bring their genjutsu to full effectiveness, but this is a problem, especially during the day when it's bright out. Also, they're prone to electricity because it messes up their nervous system, the very basis for their entire Limit. I want you to keep this in mind; I have a feeling this won't be the last time you meet Komoriuta."

By now, Naruto's senses had corrected themselves, allowing him to see who this mysterious man was.

He had white hair and a huge scroll strapped to his back; his headband had two small horns, and instead of a village insignia he had the kanji for 'oil' on it. He had red paint running down from his eyes, and his clothing looked as if it belonged to a traditional Kabuki dancer.

The blond sat up and moved to the edge of the bed, stretching and working the kinks out of his body Shizuka caused. A sense of vertigo still stuck, but it wasn't nearly as awful as when he first woke up.

"I remember her using a weird weapon, a butterfly knife I think," Naruto told him as he popped his back. "Why would a shinobi want to use such a useless weapon?"

"Any weapon can be deadly if used correctly," the man explained. "The way she used the balisong only added to the effect of her genjutsu. That, and I noticed you made eye contact a couple times when you were following the weapon movement. For her, the knife has several uses, which is probably why she chose it to have a fancy color."

"Oh." Naruto stood up and popped his neck, but then sat down holding his head as the vertigo kicked in. "Sorry, but man! She messed up my senses good."

"I give you a couple more minutes before you fully recover from your fight," the man said as he himself stood. "The Kyuubi's healing abilities made it to where you recovered in merely an hour and a half, instead of several hours like I bet she was hoping for."

Naruto stood stock still at the mention of his inner demon. "Hey, wait… oh yeah," he then rubbed the back of his in embarrassment. "You would know about her since you're probably from around here."

"It's a 'her'?" the man asked, wearing a lecherous grin that seemed unusually fitting on his face. "Do describe!"

Faster than the human eye could track, he took out a pen and notepad while wearing an excited grin. Who would have thought that the greatest demon to walk the earth was a female? The man wondered if she was hot or…

Naruto grimaced and turned away. "I hate her. She keeps trying to take over, and she keeps messing with my emotions to do it."

"Oh," the man muttered as he put away his notes and sat back down. Although a pervert he was, he knew there were some things he should be serious about. Messing with someone's emotions was a very deep crime in his book, and if the Kyuubi was that desperate to get out, he could only feel bad for this boy.

"Sorry, I didn't know," the man apologized as folded his arms. "The only thing I can say is to avoid feeling darker emotions, such as anger, jealousy, fear, and anything else like those."

Naruto looked up with a confused look. "Why?"

"Because it gives her a foothold. When you're really feeling bad, she could probably manifest outside your body in some way to tempt you. Because of your connection to her, though, you'd probably be the only that'd be able to see her."

That didn't make the blond feel any better. He couldn't get angry, he couldn't get jealous, he couldn't cry, or feel anything else negative, not unless he wanted to give the Kyuubi the strength she so desired.

Thinking about it, he was glad he at least pretended to be a happy-go-lucky idiot. In a way, it covered his negative emotions not only from the world, but also from himself and the Kyuubi. Still, she knew him more deeply than anyone else that existed, and she took every advantage of it. Eventually, there may be a time where he'd give in… there was no doubt about it.

He looked up as he felt a hand against his shoulder, greeting his eyes to the refreshing smile on the stranger's face. "You got it rough, and trust me when I say that I could never handle half of the crap that you've probably gone through. But look at it this way: it could be worse. What about Gaara and how he ended up? That could've been you."

A sad smile traced Naruto's lips. This guy was right; things could be worse off than they were already. If it wasn't for all of his precious people –Iruka, Haku, Kakashi, Anko, Yamato, Sarutobi, Hinata and maybe Sasuke and Sakura- he would've become the same as the ghoul. He had so many reasons to try his best and keep the Kyuubi at bay.

The man sighed with a smile as he stood up and walked over to a chair next to a table laden with notes of god-knows-what.

"Now, I need to get back to work and I believe that you have to head out and get ready for the Chuunin Exam."

"Yeah, thanks," Naruto said with a grin.

He liked this guy. There was just something familiar about him, but what, he couldn't put his finger on it.

Before he took a step out of the door, he turned to the man with a foxy smile. "Hey, I never got your name."

The man smiled as he looked up from his notes. "It's Jiraiya."

"The name's Uzumaki Naruto. You might want to remember it because I'll be the next Hokage! Well, be seeing you!"

With one last wave of his hand he turned and left out the doorway, but he missed Jiraiya's wide-eyed, shock filled face.

Naruto stopped in the middle of the hall as a random thought hit him. Jiraiya never did tell him how he knew so much about Transcendent Bloodline Limits. With a shrug of his shoulders, he just kept moving. It was just one of those things that were going to remain a mystery to him.

* * *

Naruto was enjoying a bowl of ramen for brunch since it was too late for breakfast and too early for lunch. Ayame leaned on the counter waiting for the moment when he'd ask for another bowl. It wasn't uncommon for him to down several in one sitting.

Even as he ate, Naruto was worried. There was no doubt in his mind that Shizuka and he were going to butt heads again; the major change now was he at least stood a chance. He just had to make sure he never looked into her eyes; otherwise, it would be a massacre like last night. The hits he did give her were straight luck, a matter of her not knowing how _Hyakurai_ worked, but she'd be more prepared next time.

He paused on his chewing as he thought about what she said. The _Genzoume_, the _Kyoukagan_, and the _Rin'negan_… those were The Three Legendary Doujutsu. For a second he wondered what the _Rin'negan_ was like; the _Genzoume_ was devastating, and the abilities it had were numerous.

Then he groaned as he thought of another threat: Gaara of the Desert. The redheaded ghoul was dangerous, and probably on par with Shizuka. _Jikiton_ was a dangerous Limit (not quite as much as the _Genzoume_) and there wasn't any telling whatever else he was hiding.

He sighed at the thought of everyone out for his ass. At least Lee was a nice guy… energetic, but nice nonetheless; Ino was annoying, simply put, and why was she so adamant about having a rematch when she didn't even acknowledge his presence back at the academy? Naruto wasn't sure of Neji had it out for him as, and hopefully, the Hyuuga didn't. The Oto team looked like they didn't like him; then again, they looked like they didn't like _anyone_. Was this an average day in the life of a _Kyoukagan_ user, and if it was, was it possible to trade lives with someone else?

Naruto looked to the side as the counter was slammed, revealing Ino wearing an expectant smile. Inside his mind, he groaned. This wasn't crap he needed right now.

Ayame sighed as she retreated deeper into the stand. It wasn't hard to tell that Naruto was stressed enough already, but then to throw the blond pig into the equation… She wondered how the whiskered boy lived as long as he did.

"What do you want?" Naruto asked as he slurped up the remaining contents of his seventh bowl of ramen.

"How about we end it right here, right now?" Ino said, wearing a sly smile that tried to convey that she was better than him and that everybody should be aware of it. "We wouldn't have to fight during the Chuunin Exam since by then we'll know who the loser is."

Not even looking up from his bowl of ramen, he gave his reply: "Stand at the back of the line. I lost count of how many people want my head, and the last problem I need is to worry about you."

"Huh?" Ino asked intelligently. "What do you mean 'stand at the back of the line'? I've been standing at the front for god-knows-how-long!"

"Let me put it into the perspective of the two people who really, _really_ want me dead." Naruto turned to her, wearing an annoyed look. "Gaara, the guy from Suna, has threatened to 'feed me' to his sand on several occasions. And just last night, a girl from Hakubo, or wherever in hell that place is, attacked me and actually came close to killing me. Right now you're pretty low on the 'people-who-want-to-kill-me' list."

Ino stayed silent long enough for Naruto to worry that he accidentally broke her brain. Once or twice she tried to muster up something to say, but then she'd shake her head and then go back to contemplating.

After five minutes of saying nothing, Ino finally spoke. "You're being serious, aren't you?"

Naruto just blinked. "It took you five minutes to come to that conclusion?" He gave her a thumb up, all the while still looking unimpressed. "Great job, genius!"

That earned him a one-way ticket to the dirt, courtesy of Ino's fist.

Even on the ground, there was the threat of accidentally looking up her short skirt, but he made sure to keep his eyes averted. If the sarcastic comment was enough to get a black eye, he could only wonder what making her think he was a pervert would earn him.

"Okay, I probably deserved that one," Naruto said as he crawled back up to his seat, rubbing his now swollen eye. He was thankful that bruises usually disappeared after only five minutes –thanks to the Kyuubi of course.

"Sometimes you can be a real asshole," Ino told him.

"I try," Naruto told her with a grin. "It's fun, especially when I do it to piss off my sister."

"Sister?" Ino asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah… well…" Naruto took a second to think, putting his chopsticks up to his chin. "Actually, she's not really my sister, but we're so close that we just call each other brother and sister. Anko may be crazy, but she's there for me."

"Oh," Ino thought aloud, looking confused at the thought of calling someone like that a sibling.

How could Naruto put up with someone like that? She heard horror stories about Anko, what she did, and what could've possibly happened to make her the way she was. There shouldn't have been _any_ way someone stood within a foot of her and not get poisoned just for talking. Anko was a person that got scorned, but would then snap back with a threat one couldn't tell whether or not she'd actually fulfill.

But then she remembered Naruto and what kind of life he led. Everyone seemed to look down upon him; every single last villager always seemed to pay no heed to him, as if they hated him and wanted him to disappear. He had no parents, no brothers, or sisters to lean to, and neither did Anko. Both of them were the village pariahs, shunned because they were different, acting the way they did so that they could get as much attention as possible.

At the same time, they were human. Compassion was something people naturally drove for. But they lacked it; nobody would be willing to give it to them. They grew up deprived of the very thing everyone else tasted every day of their lives.

Ino looked saddened as she continued to think about it. Being a Yamanaka, she was well versed in psychology and how emotions drove people. It was from this knowledge that she came to the conclusion on why the two stayed together.

They needed each other. The world was cruel to them, but they drove on with a sliver of hope. Without one another, there was no one they'd be able to hang on to.

Naruto noticed Ino's darkening complexion and immediately became worried. "Hey, sorry about what I said earlier, but you know, it's been kind of stressful. We'll have our match soon, but when, I couldn't tell you."

Ino shook her head.

"It's okay," she told him. "I'm not worried about it right now." The platinum blond sighed. "I'm just thinking about things."

"Want a bowl of ramen?" Naruto asked with a friendly smile. "It always helps me out when I need to think."

She looked caught off guard by the request. Ino blinked her eyes a couple times before she shrugged, earning a grin from Naruto.

"What kind do you want?"

"Surprise me," she answered.

* * *

Sakura scurried to the gate area of the Forest of Death, with her katana –she named it Bloody Rose- swinging behind her.

As she came up on the area, she could see crowds of genin getting ready to enter the forest, all of them laden with supplies and full to the rim of weapons she couldn't identify. She identified a couple of teams, one of them being Team Ten with Shikamaru and Chouji, waiting for their teammates to arrive.

She huffed as she came to a stop in front of Sasuke, who was leaning against a tree, and Anko, who was rubbing her head and moaning while saying something along the lines of 'too much alcohol.'

"Sorry, I'm…" she tried to say, only to be interrupted by Anko.

"Can it," she said in an agitated voice. "The second part of the exam doesn't begin for another half hour, and right now the teams are just getting their scrolls. Speaking of which…"

As if on cue, Sasuke dug in his bag and pulled out a scroll. "We've got a heaven scroll," he told her.

"Okay, but what's it for?" Sakura found herself asking.

"Give me a couple seconds," Anko told her, rubbing a tender spot right below her eyes. "Naruto isn't here yet, so you'll have to relay the info to him. You have to get the counterpart of the scroll –the earth scroll in your case- in order to pass. You do this by," here she groaned and mumbled under her breath about 'damn hangovers' before she continued, "you do this by stealing it from the other teams. By what means you do it… have fun, it's a free-for-all. You could even kill for one, but that'd be a little extreme. Keep in mind that other teams can steal yours as well, and there is no limit to how many scrolls you can have."

Naruto's older sister walked away, shouting for someone to get her some aspirin before she lost her temper. Sakura and Sasuke watched as several chuunin ran at once like chickens with their heads cut off to find the deranged jounin her medicine before someone died.

"Anyways," Sakura said, turning around to meet her crush. "Do you know where Naruto is?"

Sasuke shook his head. "I don't have a clue where goggle-head is, and neither did Anko. She said he wasn't home when she woke up."

"If that idiot doesn't show up…" Sakura said past clenched teeth.

She was interrupted as they both heard a pair of ninja sandals. Sakura spun around, expecting it to be her teammate and fully ready to yell her head off. Instead, her eyes were greeted by the sight of a scrawny girl with bright orange hair and a set of welder's goggles that were eerily reminiscent of Naruto's water goggles.

Sasuke stopped leaning as he stared into her welder's goggles. He didn't like her already; there was an air of arrogance around her, but at the same time, it held a power that seemed able to back it.

"And you are…?" Sasuke asked the newcomer, his hand inching to his kunai.

"I would head home if I were you two," she told them in a whimsical voice, holding her hands behind her back.

"Why would that be?" Sakura had her hand on Bloody Rose, ready to pull the katana out and hack at this annoying girl.

"Because your teammate, Naruto, isn't going to show," she simply told them, relishing the looks of shock and confusion on their faces.

"How would you know that?" Sakura dangerously asked, now pulling out her katana.

It took a couple of seconds, but then Sasuke realized what the girl was leading onto. "What did you do to Naruto?" he questioned, pulling out a kunai to attack her.

"Oh, I just disposed of him for the moment," she answered, talking to them as if she was chatting about something as mundane as the weather. "Unfortunately, I couldn't kill him like I originally planned, but I did put him out of commission."

"YOU WHAT?" Sakura screeched, glaring bloody murder at the girl.

"Who do you think you are?" Sasuke stepped forward, feeling as angry as Sakura.

"To answer the first question," she said while crossing her arms, "I merely nullified his senses, and sadly for you, it won't be until the late afternoon until they return to normal. He probably can't even stand up straight right now. And to answer your second question: I'm someone that's stronger than you, and that's all you need to know."

"Big talk for a…" before Sasuke could react, she was already behind him with her balisong at his neck.

She pressed the blade into his neck, drawing blood. And then the next second, she reappeared in front of them, folding up her knife.

Sasuke held a hand up to his throat, expecting to feel the sensation of blood in between his fingers. Instead he felt nothing, as if she never touched his throat. His eye widened as he realized what just took place was nothing more than an illusion.

"Like I said," she told them, "I'm stronger than you."

"Shizuka!" a familiar voice rung, making Sasuke and Sakura smile and said girl's eye unnoticeably twitch in aggravation. She grimaced as she spun and saw Naruto walking up to them, angry and looking annoyed.

He stopped three feet away from her and the two proceeded to have a stare down. Sakura became nervous as she felt killer intent leaking into the air, its source being Naruto and the strange girl. If the two were going to fight, it would more than likely turn into a bloody mess.

Sasuke also felt the killer intent in the air, but he acknowledged it with a raised eyebrow. The two had met, and Naruto wasn't very happy about their last meeting, but Shizuka wasn't happy either to see her plans disrupted.

"You're a low life piece-of-shit," Naruto was the first to break the silence.

"I wasn't expecting you to be here so early," she merely told him, remaining whimsical despite the fact that her original plan had been shattered. "I didn't expect you to be up and walking after last night."

"Yeah, well, crap happens," Naruto smoothly countered. "Let's just say that I heal quickly."

"Even then, you would've been a worm feast had the old fart not intervened," she continued. "But still, when our paths cross again, I'll finish what I started."

"Keep thinking that."

The two stared at each other past their goggles, trying to size the other up. Naruto knew Shizuka's weaknesses, but she knew about the one Limit he needed to gain advantage of their future battle. She was intelligent, cunning, and dangerous. As a shinobi, it was the worst combination to fight against.

"Alright, break it up!" Anko butted in, walking up to them and making them dissipate whatever intention they had to rip each other apart. She was looking to be in better condition than a couple minutes ago, having gotten the aspirin she needed. "Save the fighting for the forest!"

Shizuka grunted and moved to leave, but before she left the group eyeing her, she came up to Naruto and whispered into his ear.

"I won't tell anyone about you, Silver-Eyes, but I'll still kill you," she spoke to him in an undertone.

"You still owe me the ending of the story," Naruto told her with a smirk. Shizuka grunted in amusement.

She trotted away, donning her whimsical smile as she left to where her supplies were. Team Seven and Anko kept their eyes on her until she disappeared into the crowd of genin, but the moment she did Anko rounded on the small group near her.

"That girl is strange," Naruto was about to tell Anko she was calling the kettle black, but then his sister finished the sentence. "She's a one man team, and the only genin to ever come here from Hakubo. I think you guys should be a little cautious around her."

"Why would she be the only one on a team? Aren't squads made up of three genin and one jounin?" Sakura asked.

"Because, sometimes in the smaller hidden villages," Anko explained, taking a seat on a nearby rock –it was obvious to Sasuke and Sakura her headache was still plaguing her, "there are not enough genin or wannabe ninjas to create a ninja academy, or to create squads like we do here. So, what some of them do is assign a jounin to one genin, creating an apprenticeship, but the odds of the genin passing the test are much lower than what you guys had; at least a seventy-percent failure rate."

"How often do some of them come to the exam?" Sasuke questioned. He was beginning to take an interest in this Shizuka.

"I only see one of these genin once every couple years," Anko answered. "And now that we have done our history lesson, time for me to address another issue."

She stood up and then walked up to Naruto who looked at her oddly. He felt like he was being blamed for something he didn't do, but it was still a mystery to him of what it could be.

Before he could react, he was punched into the ground… hard. Sasuke and Sakura flinched at the sound of their teammate being the target of his sister's rage.

"Where in hell were you this morning?" Anko shouted.

"Making best friends with Shizuka!" Naruto shot back while holding the lump that was going to be forming on his head.

"What?" Anko asked, genuinely surprised at the mention of the girl's name.

"Yeah, she…!"

"ATTENTION, ALL GENIN!" an intercom shouted. "PLEASE GET TO YOUR POSITIONS, THE EXAM WILL BE BEGINNNG IN THE NEXT COUPLE OF MINUTES!"

"We'll talk about it later," Anko told him as she ran off.

After the jounin was gone, Sakura piped up, "I think we should head to our gate."

* * *

Naruto stood beside his teammates, staring into the Forest of Death. The gate had yet to open, but Team Seven was ready.

Sakura gave him a brief explanation of what they needed to do. At first thought, it didn't seem too hard, but thinking about it a little more, he knew it'd be a problem if they made contact with some of the stronger teams.

He shattered his eyes and turned them into the milky white of the _Byakugan_. He had yet to use the Limit that Hinata gave him, but he felt now was the best time to take it out for a spin. If there were teams out to get him, he'd be the first to know. It also might give him a couple of seconds to determine whether or not Shizuka was going to go hunting for a particular whiskered boy.

Sakura gulped as she stared into the forest. To anyone else, it would be apparent she was nervous. She didn't want to fail Sasuke or Naruto, and she didn't know how useful her _Kinzokuton_ would be. Her newest attack could be quite deadly, but only if she had enough chakra.

For that reason, she patted her holster, feeling the soldier pills she bought that morning. Should she ever get into a jam, all she needed to do was pop a pill and launch her attack. But she hoped it never came down to that.

Sasuke remained emotionless, but on the inside, he could feel an adrenaline rush. If anything, he was excited. This was what being a shinobi was about.

At that moment, a buzzer went off and the gate opened. Team Seven stepped forward.

Kill Joy no Jutsu (A.K.A. Author's Note): Okay, I lied again. No Orochimaru/Naruto battle yet. But on a brighter note, I have introduced the antagonist I had planned. Shizuka should be a problem for Naruto throughout the story. The next battle will be the battle between Sakura and Sasuke against the Hebi-Teme, complete with a couple new Kinzokuton moves. There will also be a battle between Shizuka and Naruto. Expect some awesome battles.

Jiraiya has just discovered Naruto! Imagine the conversation he's going to have the Hokage!

The Ino/Naruto moment, although short, did get a connection between the two. Expect some more, and I am hoping for the two to meet during their time in the Forest, but how, I don't have a clue quite yet. Give me a day or two and I could tell you.

I imagine that the dream is confusing you and the Kyuubi moment is just as irritating, but hear me out. It all will make sense in due time. This is all hinting towards a very big moment in the story as Naruto begins to uncover more secrets of the Kyoukagan.

Not much else for me to go over. I will post the info on the Genzoume next chapter. Sorry if you're really wanting it, but I kind of have a lack of time right now.


	12. Tears of the Seraphim, Part One

**Chapter 12- Tears of the Seraphim, Part 1**

Shizuka sat on a branch with her leg dangling, like a hungry leopard waiting for the right prey to come to it.

In her hands she held a single, tattered photograph, staring at it with sad eyes. Nobody would be able to tell, though, as she wore her welder's goggles.

Slowly, she stood up, putting the slightly frayed picture in her pocket.

"I'll kill him, Daddy," she told herself, "I promise."

Beneath her goggles, her eyes scanned the nearby area. Already her powerful senses could detect a team of Ame ninja coming too close.

She could pinpoint their exact locations; the team thought that if they divided and caught her from every major direction they'd be able to catch her off guard. This was what her powerful mind analyzed. They were so sadly mistaken.

Shizuka counted backwards in her mind as she waited for the team to strike. Right on cue, all three jumped out of the trees at the same time, their weapons ready to strike.

With the split second she had, a sneer crossed her face. A waste of her time; that was all this particular team was to her.

The world around her slowed down as her powerful mind began to work at full speed, processing everything faster than any supercomputer. With the added time, she pulled her butterfly knife out and began to twirl it in between her fingers until the blade was out.

She wouldn't kill them, but she was going to teach them a lesson she was sure they were going to remember for the rest of their lives.

* * *

The Sandaime looked up as the doors to his office were slammed open, revealing a scowling Jiraiya. The Sannin slowly walked into the office, not speaking a word even as he sat down in front of his desk.

If he wasn't trying to keep his composure, Sarutobi might've whistled at the glare Jiraiya was giving him; even Orochimaru might've flinched at the sight of it. His student wasn't somebody to get angry; most of the time he snuffed it out, and what little he did permeate was merely for bantering fun. Now, though, a killer intent seemed to leak into the air, centered at his former student.

Even as Jiraiya glared at him with enough force to burn a hole into carbonized steel, the aged man calmly took out his pipe and put some fresh tobacco in it. A second later, he used a low lever fire jutsu to light it.

After taking a small puff, the Hokage turned his attention to his student and broke the silence. "I'm just going to assume you've met Naruto."

"So, you've been anticipating this?" Jiraiya calmly shot back.

"Well, I hadn't expected you to meet him this early, but yes," the aged man answered. "Actually, it's more like I anticipated the fit you were going to throw."

Jiraiya sighed as he leaned into the chair he was seating in. He should have known; Sarutobi-sensei always seemed to be able to see into the future.

With a deep, calming breath, Jiraiya composed himself. Sarutobi waited patiently for his student to gather his thoughts. After all, it wasn't everyday someone found out there supposedly long dead grandson was, in fact, alive.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Jiraiya asked as he looked into his teacher's aged and knowledgeable eyes. "Why did you tell me that he was dead?"

"It was for the best." Sarutobi answered slowly, carefully picking every word that was going to come out of his mouth –one wrong move and Jiraiya might make him toad food. "Besides, if you had raised him I don't think fate might've blessed us the way it did."

"What are you talking about?" he snapped back.

"Have you seen his eyes?"

Jiraiya could almost feel his heart skip a beat at the mere thought of those eyes. He stared numbly at the ground as he remembered the look of those silvery irises. A shiver made its way up his spine as he was reminded of another student he once had.

"You know what a Transcendent Bloodline is." Sandaime blew out a smoke ring. "You're aware of the _Rin'negan_ and the _Genzoume_, and how valuable they are, but if you're like me, then you know what Naruto has is something completely unheard of. If you had raised him, then those eyes might've activated earlier, maybe at a time when Naruto wouldn't be able to defend himself as well as he does now. Tell me, do you know Naruto's eyes do?"

Jiraiya shook his head, still keeping his eyes on Sarutobi's. The _Rin'negan_ itself was valuable, which made him only wonder just how important these eyes were.

"Let me tell you what's been happening the past couple months," Sandaime began, taking the pipe out of his mouth.

* * *

The leader of the Ame team frantically crawled away, his legs completely useless due to the severed tendons. Behind him his teammates lied. One had glassy eyes that were dilated, and his body seemed to be shivering. The other was curled up in a fetal position and muttering something under his breath that sounded like 'dark'.

It had only been a matter of seconds. They didn't even see it coming. She moved like a demon, disabling them and using her knife to cut into their legs. All three fell at one time. Before any of them could crawl away, she moved to each one and stared into their eyes with her pearlescent ones, sealing their fates.

The leader looked behind his shoulders and began to crawl even faster to a nearby katana as the pearlescent-eyed monster closed in on him. Before he could touch it, his hand was stepped on by a foot. A cry of pain wanted to escape his throat, but he swallowed it, trying to preserve what little pride he had left.

Slowly, he looked up to see Shizuka staring down at him, twiddling her knife between her fingers. She kneeled down so she could get a better view of his face, making him cringe from how close she was.

He tried his best to keep his eyes averted from hers, even if they were covered by a set of goggles.

"What… What are you?" he questioned with fear as he saw her pulling off the goggles.

"Not normal," was all she answered.

Finally, she opened her eyes, making the genin scream bloody murder as he was forever entangled in a world of nightmares. Caught off guard by the loud noise, she covered her ears and kicked him hard on the head, shutting him up. With a growl, she moved onwards to their supplies to find their scroll.

She hated it when they screamed; it always hurt her sensitive ears.

After a couple of seconds of digging through an assortment of bags full of supplies (all of it useless to her), she found an earth scroll. With a roll of her eyes, she tossed it over her shoulder.

"Figures," she told herself. "They always never have what you need."

She had an earth scroll already- meaning that she had to get a heaven scroll to pass. It didn't annoy her; this task was nothing more than time consuming to her.

With a deep breath, she slowly walked over to a nearby branch and pulled out the picture. It was a photograph of a married couple, happy and looking as if there wasn't a care in the world. The woman looked to be midway through her pregnancy, while a man wearing the signature robes of a kage gently hugged her.

That was her mother and father. She fondly smiled as she thought of them. Supposedly, her sensei told her that she was a clone of her mother, but at the same time, she carried herself like her father.

Shizuka stopped her reminiscing as she felt a very familiar chakra signature nearby, one she loathed more than anything. She slowly stood as she pinpointed the signature before it got too far away, and once she was up, she moved like a predator on a mission.

"I hope you're ready, Silver-Eyes," her voice echoed.

* * *

Jiraiya sat his head on his hands as he took in everything. Not only was his grandson a holder of one of the Three Great Doujutsu, but Minato had also turned him into a jinchuuriki. In short, Naruto probably had the most capability to become the strongest ninja to have ever been born in a very long time.

"This…" Jiraiya tried to say, but for the life of him, he couldn't bring the words out.

"Yes," the Sandaime said. "It's so much to take in such a short amount of time."

He stayed silent for a couple minutes as he processed every word the Kage told him. Naruto –his own grandson, a boy with one of the most legendary lineages in a long time, the carrier of a Bloodline Limit spoken of only in legends- was the absolute unluckiest person on the planet. He couldn't figure out whether the luck came from Minato's side of the family, or his mother's. It must have come from Jiraiya himself, because he knew his luck sucked something awful.

Jiraiya sighed as he thought of how many people would want Naruto's head, or blood depending on the case. Being the son of the Yondaime, grandson of a Legendary Sannin, the only living heir to the Uzumaki, and the carrier of a Bloodline Limit that created other Limits, Naruto would become enemy number one in every country in the world, that or become the most sought after commodity on the planet.

"Damn," muttered Jiraiya. "It just plain sucks to be him."

"I know." Sarutobi stood up and walked over to the window overlooking his beloved village. "But it's a miracle things happened the way they did."

Jiraiya growled, but nodded his head.

It was true; had he raised Naruto, it was possible the Limit would've activated earlier. Then hell would've broken loose if someone was lucky to catch anything. On top of that he was always moving around; the last thing a young child needed was to become a virtual vagabond.

"What Limits has he copied?" Jiraiya asked.

He'd be damned if he didn't train the boy himself.

"So far," Sarutobi answered as he turned to him, "_Hyouton, Sharingan, Byaku Chakra, Mokuton, Hyakurai_, and from what I recently heard from Iruka, Naruto has copied the _Byakugan_ from the Hyuga heiress." Sarutobi chuckled. "I hear that the two have become quite the close friends."

"That's a large list," Jiraiya thought aloud. "Two Bi-Elements, two Doujutsu, and two Body Manipulation Limits; is he any good with any of them?"

"Naruto is a jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none," Jiraiya rolled his eyes, but that only made his teacher chuckle again. "But to make up for this, Naruto's learning rate is absolutely astounding. We're having trouble keeping up with him. Whereas it could take a single person a couple of months to learn a small percentage about their Bloodline Limit, Naruto can learn what they do in less than a couple of weeks. It's amazing really."

"Kushina was that way, too," Jiraiya said with a proud smile.

"If anything, he learns even faster than Kushina." The Sandaime slowly returned to his seat, wearing a kind smile. "I bet he could learn to utilize the Rasengan in about a month with the way he learns."

"I'd actually be willing to take that bet," Jiraiya grinned. His grin quickly did a one-eighty, making his teacher across from him frown from the sudden seriousness. "I need some info on a Komoriuta Shizuka."

"Komoriuta?" Sandaime questioned with a raised eyebrow. "That's a name I haven't heard someone mention in a long time."

The aged man dug through a stack of manila folders –the files of the genin partaking in the exams- until he pulled out a particular one marked with the insignia of Hidden Twilight. Jiraiya was quick to snatch it from his sensei's hand, and as soon as he did his eyes began scanning over everything.

"So, there is a Komoriuta left," Sandaime thought aloud, rubbing his beard. "Why didn't I see that name when I went through the folders? I thought Minato killed the last one during the Iwa/Konoha war."

"Well, evidently not," Jiraiya muttered. His eyes suddenly widened as he stopped on a certain spot. "I'll be damned. She's the Yondaime Tsuchikage's only child!"

"Huh? That can't be right," Sarutobi muttered as he took the file.

He looked over some results on a blood test done on the fiery-haired girl, and by the time he went over the info his student did his white eyebrows had shot into his hairline. His eyes rapidly blinked for a couple of seconds, or at least until he finally got his bearings straight.

"How could she have missed all of our scouts and spies?" Sarutobi thought aloud.

"It's simple," Jiraiya explained. "Her mother must've high-tailed it out of Iwa towards the end of the war. From the looks of it, she headed towards Hakubo to hide out. If my info from my spy network is as reliable as they make it out to be, it borders Northern Land of Earth and Eastern Land of Lightning, making it disconnected from the shinobi world. It would be nothing more than a fly speck on the map. Perfect place to hide out."

"I can believe that," the Hokage agreed with a nod of his head. "It isn't unheard of for Nuke-Nin or important nobles to find a quiet, out-of-the-way place to hide out."

"This would also explain why she's so intent on killing Naruto," Jiraiya explained. "Yesterday she made an attempt at him. Thankfully, I intervened before any permanent damage could be done, but she got away before I could detain on her. But here's the kicker: she's the holder of the _Genzoume_."

Jiraiya was worried that his teacher was having a heart attack, watching him recline in his chair with wide eyes. For the next couple minutes, Sarutobi stroked his beard in thought, all the while looking shocked.

This wasn't good info, and the Sandaime was one-hundred-percent sure this was going to send Iruka and Anko into orbit. He wasn't favoring the thought of being at the receiving end of their anger and their 'pull Naruto out the competition!' chants.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, Sarutobi sighed. "I'm afraid there's nothing we can do."

"I'm not worried about Shizuka killing him," Jiraiya told his master as he stood up to leave. Once he got to the door, he turned back to the Hokage. "I'm more worried about the _Kyoukagan_ harming Naruto."

"What do you mean?" the Sandaime asked with slightly narrowed eyes.

This had definitely come out of the left field. What could the _Kyoukagan_ do that would harm its user?

"The price for using the _Kyoukagan_… don't you know what it is?" Jiraiya asked, though his voice had an edge in it.

"I don't," his teacher answered honestly. "What is this price?"

"Let's just say it isn't pretty."

The Sandaime stood up and locked eyes with his student, trying to decipher what Jiraiya was telling him. In his eyes, he could see a terrible, terrible knowledge there, something he didn't want them to know.

"You know something about the _Kyoukagan_ that we don't," he suddenly realized.

Before he could press on for info, Jiraiya had left, leaving the man to sit quietly to himself, contemplating what he had heard.

* * *

Naruto had to admit, he thought the _Byakugan_ was one of the coolest Limits in his arsenal, on par with the _Hyakurai_.

Being able to see three-hundred and fifty-nine degrees was absolutely awesome, though he thought it would've been even better if there wasn't a black speck on his sight (the blind spot, though he didn't realize it yet). It was also downright awesome having x-ray vision, but he had to prevent himself from getting nosebleeds early on when trying to get a grasp of that ability –Sakura was in front of him, and thanks to his new Doujutsu, he could tell she was wearing lime-green panties.

Sakura looked behind herself, finding, much to her surprise, a smiling Naruto with his attention shifting everywhere. That is, everywhere except the way they were going, but somehow, he managed to dodge every tree branch and land in all the right spots, even when he wasn't paying attention.

"Naruto, this is serious!" she shouted, making Sasuke sigh in front of her. "This is a life and death situation!"

"Really?" Naruto said with a grin. "I'm having the time of my life!"

"Whatever," Sakura muttered, as she held her hand against the hilt of her katana, Bloody Rose. "Just act like a ninja for once! I don't intend to go home in a body bag!"

She couldn't understand how Naruto was having fun in a place like this. For her, it was one of the scariest moments in her life knowing everybody, except her teammates, was out to get her. It was for this reason she kept one hand on her sword and the other held against her kunai pouch, full of kunai, shuriken, and a couple of soldier pills.

Behind her, Naruto's excited grin became a deep frown. His teammate had a point; Gaara, Shizuka, and Mr. Freaky (the creepy genin) were all out to get him, and he was pretty sure Neji and he wouldn't have a very nice meeting should they just so happen to cross paths.

He stopped, prompting his teammates to do the same. When they looked back at him to see what his problem was, he shouted to them: "I think I should warn you guys about a couple of people!"

Out of curiosity, Sakura and Sasuke landed next to him.

"This had better be good," Sasuke told him warningly. "You're wasting our time."

"Oh, trust me," Naruto reassured, "you _will_ want to hear this."

"And why now?" Sasuke questioned sardonically; the more he hung around the loser, the more he wanted to ring his neck.

"Because, there were too many people, and I already have enough of them wanting my head. Anyways," he looked to Sakura. "Do you remember that Gaara guy?" She briefly shivered and then nodded. "Well, we might want to avoid him. He has a Bloodline Limit of some kind, and he's really good at using it."

"Who's Gaara?" Sasuke questioned.

"This guy from Suna," Sakura answered with a frown.

She had to agree with Naruto; whatever Gaara's Limit was, he could control metal, meaning he was her worst nightmare made real. The memory of everything metallic on her body being pulled to him was still very frightening.

"He tried to kill us this one time," she continued, "but Iruka-sensei came before things could get violent. He has red hair and black rings around his eyes; you'll recognize him if we're unlucky enough to see him."

Naruto shifted uncomfortably as he remembered his second meeting with the ghoul. It also made him uneasy at knowing he was the container of Ichibi no Shukaku, adding to his already deadly status.

With a clearing of his throat, Naruto got the other two's attention once more and went on. "That's one of the three big ones we need to avoid. The other we should look out for is that bitch, Shizuka."

They didn't need to be told twice.

Sasuke grimaced as he remembered how he had been at the receiving point of her blade. Besides her air of arrogance, he could also sense a unique power from her, one that could possibly trump the _Sharingan_ in a one-on-one battle.

But from what little he saw from her, he could tell she was an illusionist, which should make him her worst enemy. At the same time, there was no predicting what else she had up her sleeve; her weapon choice was very unique and only added to this thought.

"Number three," Naruto told them as he counted off everyone of the 'avoids' on his fingers, "is Mr. Freaky, you know, the guy from yesterday with that long tongue?"

"Why?" Sakura asked.

"Let's just say he freaked Anko out," Naruto explained. "She was the one who told me to avoid him. I'm not normally one to do what she says, but I really think we should listen to her this time."

"Anyone else?" Sasuke asked, finding the information surprisingly helpful.

Gaara sounded like a bloodthirsty ghoul; Shizuka was a bitch from hell who wore welder's goggles; the freak spooked the normally psychotic Anko. The Uchiha had to wonder why the stronger the opponent was the more eccentric they were. But either way, Naruto's info still had use to them.

"Not really. If there was someone else I would say to avoid, it would be the Sound team since they probably don't like us," the blond added.

"What about that team with Lee on it?" Sakura suddenly thought.

"I wouldn't worry too much about them," Naruto clarified. "I'm friends with Tenten, and I'm pretty sure she'll put a couple of leashes on the two if we were to meet up." He then grinned as another thought hit him. "Then again, a rematch with Lee would be downright awesome."

"Naruto, concentrate!" Sakura snapped him out of his daydream. "Who else should we worry about?"

He put a hand against his chin as he thought about it. "The only other person I can think of is that Kabuto guy. He just seemed too… nice. There was something about him that rubbed me the wrong way."

"I could understand about the first three," Sasuke said, putting his two cents in, "but that seems a little off. Why should we worry about him? He's already failed the exam god-knows-how-man- times." Thinking his teammate had no more to contribute, he gave the orders, "All right, let's keep going."

The three were off, but Naruto couldn't help but grimace as he followed the two.

Being a shinobi was a practical form of art, a way of life where weaving lies, facades, and cloaking one's self was a natural part of the job. Another part of it was learning to read people, to find the flaws in their real or made up personas, and then to take advantage of those flaws to gain something. Naruto would be the first to admit he didn't have the all-seeing eyes of the Hyuga or the clarifying _Sharingan_ (or at least not naturally), but he had to learn this fine art from a very young age. He could read people, even if it was partially.

Kabuto just was somebody that unnerved him by his mere presence. He couldn't explain it. It was difficult to read the four-eyed genin; or what his motives were or if he had any and that aggravated Naruto.

He stopped his musing as his _Kyoukagan_ picked up a very familiar signature he was coming to loath more than even the Kyuubi's. In his still active _Byakugan_, he could see the wisps of illusionary chakra in the air taking shape as a familiar figure entered his range of his sight.

Sakura halted suddenly as she sensed Naruto no longer following them. Sasuke followed suit when he felt his teammates slowing down. Both of them looked behind their backs to find Naruto stopped. He was staring off into a spot for what seemed like no reason, but they could see he didn't look too happy.

"What now?" Sasuke asked, letting some of his temper fly.

Next to him, Sakura was staring at Naruto's eyes or, to be more precise, the veins bulging around them. She hadn't noticed it when they stopped, but now she could see them as plain as daylight.

She was about ask if his eyes were alright, but was interrupted by Naruto. What he said sent a chill down her spine.

"I think you guys should start running," he suggested, his voice sounding more on edge than they ever heard.

"Why should we?" Sasuke spat back. "You idiot! We have to do this as a…"

"Shut up and listen to me!" Naruto raised his voice, letting a little killer intent into the air to show his team he was serious. "Shizuka is here!"

It happened in a split second. Naruto's head shot to the left as he sensed something, but it was too late as he was sent reeling straight through a tree and into a clearing several feet away by an invisible enemy.

"I think you should listen to him," a whimsical voice echoed.

"You again," Sasuke growled.

He blinked, and in that moment she appeared two inches away from his face. Before he could react, a roundhouse kick sent him flying backwards.

Sakura pulled out her sword and charged her, but Shizuka disappeared and used the momentary shock to punch Sakura hard in the gut. The poor girl doubled over in pain and vomited what little she eaten that morning.

Shizuka reappeared in a shimmer of light, and grabbed Sakura by her hair, forcing the girl to look into her covered eyes.

"I'm going to warn you right now," Shizuka cautioned dangerously, "if you or the Uchiha interfere in mine and Naruto's battle in anyway, I won't hesitate to kill either of you straight off."

"What do you have against him!" Sasuke yelled as he suddenly rejoined them, holding a fuuma shuriken.

"Everything," she vaguely answered, disappearing in another shimmer of light as the oversized weapon struck where she formerly stood.

Sasuke stood next to his teammate, helping her up, but then winced as he heard the girl's voice echo in the area: "Just stay out of the way and we'll get along fine."

Sakura and Sasuke watched below as Naruto was suddenly launched out of the clearing through several trees, disappearing from their sights. Shizuka shimmered back into existence for a brief moment and looked towards the pair while making a motion at her neck, meaning 'don't bother or die'.

"What should we do?" Sakura asked while looking towards Sasuke, finding his _Sharingan_ fully activated. "If Naruto dies, we…"

"I know, but we can't do anything for the moment." His face contorted in aggravation as he looked at the clearing where the two had formerly occupied. "I can't see past her illusions… even with the _Sharingan_."

Sakura looked at him with wide, fear-filled eyes. It was then she realized that Naruto was up against someone by far not normal. She gave a silent prayer for her teammate, hoping he lived through the ordeal.

* * *

Naruto coughed out the blood collecting in his mouth and quickly jumped up, all the while trading his _Byakugan_ for _Hyakurai_. The major weakness of the _Genzoume_ was electricity and the powerful senses. If he could get lucky and hit her with a full blast of charged lightning, then he could buy himself several seconds to defeat her.

He could feel chakra collecting in the air and knew another one of those invisible blasts were taking aim at him. To put distance between his self and the _Genzoume_ user, he charged up his electricity and poured it all into the ground. It got results as he heard some cursing from a nearby branch.

"Sounds like I almost got you," Naruto taunted.

Shizuka countered by making all the trees in the immediate area come to life. Some grew monstrous faces made from the bark while others seemed to grow even more demonic.

"Oh, shit," muttered Naruto as he watched every tree turn their attention to him. "Maybe I shouldn't have pissed her off so early."

He jumped out of the way as one monstrous hand came crashing down. The forest floor didn't looked to be touched, but Naruto knew better; these illusions were hybrids, capable of making the real thing happen. Becoming a red smear on the forest floor didn't sound very appealing to Naruto.

The blond dodge-rolled out of the way as several hands came at once, only to jump out of the way on all fours as tree roots shot out of the ground like a set of spears. Naruto clenched his teeth as he dodged roots, hands, and branches like a dancer.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw an opening out of the literal forest of death, and immediately made a run for it. He sprinted for it, jumping over roots and branches that swung about wildly like an octopus's tentacles. Several times, tree hands tried to squash, or even capture, him, but failed.

He grinned as he came close to the edge, but as soon as he stepped foot out of the clearing, a hand came out of nowhere and slammed into him, making him fly back into the center of the battlefield like a golf ball being hit by a club.

Naruto took a second to catch his breath and mutter a few choice words, but instantly rolled out of the way as a hand came down. He then rolled back to his former position as another tried to smack him like a giant flyswatter, but he barely got out of way in time.

* * *

In the shadows, Shizuka was starting to get annoyed. She had to give it to him; he knew how to move on the wire, and he must've been luckier than hell to have gotten through some of those hits. But now, it was time bring things to the next level: introduce some strategy into the wild game of chess they were playing.

* * *

Naruto now found himself having to be quicker in his steps as the trees started to suddenly become more coordinated in their attacks. One would distract while another would try to pull a finisher. He cursed as a tree root came too close to his nose for comfort.

Out of the corner of his eyes he could see one branch come at him like a tentacle, sweeping the ground to trip him. On instinct alone he jumped out of the way, only to get slammed by another branch. He cursed as he slammed into one of the faux trees, immediately getting tied to it by rapidly growing branches.

"What do you think of my illusion?" Shizukesa asked as she shimmered into being. "It's my powerful _Demonic Illusion: Nightmare Hell Forest._"

Carefully, he studied her, making sure this was the genuine article. Much to his relief it was; she had yet to take over his senses, which meant he still could sense her with his _Hyakurai_ and _Kyoukagan_.

He had to prevent himself from smiling. His plan to bring her out into the open was working beautifully. Now was it time was for the part he had yet to plan out.

Naruto shattered his eyes, changing them from the dark eyes of Iruka to the beautiful shattered mirrors so few knew him for. He went through all the Limits he copied and began trying to figure out which one would get him out of this mess, but at the same time he had to create as much damage as possible in a very short amount of time.

A plan came to mind. The only thing he needed was a lot of luck, and he needed her to talk until the Limit went into full activation in seven seconds. That didn't seem like a lot of time, but to a shinobi, a second ticked away like a minute.

"Hey you wouldn't mind telling me something would you?" he asked, making her suddenly stop her advance onto him to stare into his eyes. "You never did tell me the rest of that story."

She snorted in amusement as she pulled down her goggles, revealing her unique, pearlescent-green eyes –it was pretty dark in the immediate area, so Naruto assumed that was why she chose this place as the battle ground. "Why should I let you listen to the rest of it?"

"Because I'm about to die and it would only be fair," Naruto answered in a matter-of-fact voice.

He thanked the gods he was wearing goggles as he watched her slide them back on. It sort of protected him from her more dangerous illusions, and it prevented her from attacking him head on knowing that she didn't have control of his senses.

Shizuka laughed in amusement. "Remember the deal? You had to defeat me, and looking at this, you're not going to hear it."

He needed to buy at least another second, so he asked the first question that came to mind. "Then why do you hate me so much? I deserve to at least know why."

She stopped again. Naruto could sense killer intent leaking into the air. Well, she must have a very good reason to want to kill him that badly.

"Because you look like _him_," she spat the last word out as if it was poisoned water.

"You, you little freak, are messed up in the head if that's your only reason to kill me," he said with a grin, as if death wasn't staring at him already.

It got the effect he wanted. Shizuka, out of anger, pulled out her balisong and bum-rushed him. This only made Naruto's smile widen as it only pieced together his plan even faster. He didn't want to kill her, but he would be damned if his friends saw him in a body bag.

Just as she pulled the knife back for a killing strike, she suddenly noticed that the air seemed too dry for Konoha. At the last second, her eyes widened as she realized her deadly mistake: she waltzed right into his trap from the very moment the tree had caught him.

In a second that seemed like an eternity, Naruto moved his hand from his side, revealing a kunai made of ice. Using his powers of manipulation, he launched it like a bullet, aimed straight for her forehead with every intention to kill. It was only thanks to Shizuka's mind's power of processing that she stopped and tried to dodge, but the kunai went into her shoulder and out the other end in a glorious spray of scarlet that stained the forest floor.

She screamed as she fell backwards from the force of the ice knife, her powerful sense of pain making her blink in and out of consciousness.

All around her, her illusions disappeared in a snowfall of chakra, but even then Naruto cursed knowing he missed. He only had several seconds to deal the finishing blow before she used another illusion to get away. At once, he sprinted at her while making hand seals, making all of the nearby water in the air manifest on his wrists in the form of his_ Crystal Ice Swords Technique._

Shizuka felt even more moisture disappear out of the air and quickly leapt up. Just as Naruto came at her, she ducked and then dodge-rolled out of the way.

Naruto turned to give chase, but stopped as a sudden jolt of pain hit his leg. He cursed again as he looked down, finding it had become a pincushion full of her thin kunai. When he looked back, she had disappeared, but his Limit could still sense that she hidden herself in the forest, and even more to his annoyance, she had healing chakra on her wound.

He should have figured as much. Genjutsu required a large amount of control to work; it would only make sense that she would learn high-control techniques for the occasional need outside of illusions.

"Oh, hell no!" Naruto roared as he gave chase.

* * *

Sasuke and Sakura sat hidden against a tree, waiting for their teammate's return, or for the moment when they decided to hunt for his body. Only close to four minutes had passed, but to both of them that time seemed to move at a snail's pace.

"Do you…," Sakura tried to whisper, the words having a hard time passing her lips. "Do you think he's okay?"

She clutched her katana closer to herself as she waited for the Uchiha's answer.

Sasuke took a second to think about it. He remembered all of the battles Team Seven weathered, inside and outside –outside meaning the battles with enemy ninja, and inside meaning the battles between members. Naruto was not one to roll over and play dead at the snap of someone's finger. The blond was worse than a cockroach when it came to killing him, and he also happened to have enough power to back that amazing resilience.

Finally, he gave his answer. "He'll be alright. If not, I'll choke him when I meet him again in heaven, and then tell him it was his fault for being so stupid."

It alleviated the nervousness he himself was feeling by seeing Sakura smile. She gave an anxious nod, but some of the worry that built up disappeared, if only for another minute.

Everything finally came to a boil when they both heard a twig snap. With shinobi reflexes, they both jumped out of their hiding spot with weapons ready; Sasuke with his _Sharingan_ and hands with fans of shuriken, and Sakura with Bloody Rose poised to fight. The two of them wore looks of surprise at the sight of Naruto standing before them, battered, bloodied, and with torn up clothes.

"Whoa, it's me you guys!" he shouted, holding up his hands in surprise.

Both of them were about to drop their weapons in relief, but instead tensed even more than before at the tiny things off with the picture. They might've not noticed the tiny flaws had they not been on guard so much.

"Drop the disguise," Sakura ordered dangerously.

"Wait, seriously, it's me!" the fake tried to reassure.

"No," Sasuke corrected. "Naruto never takes off his goggles for any reason. And your eyes are a shade darker than his."

True to what he had said, the fake's blue eyes were closer to a shade of sapphire than they were to Naruto's cerulean. And to top it off, the goggles were hanging around his neck. They had to thank the gods that their idiot teammate never took his off; otherwise it might've taken a more effort to identify the fake, or maybe only when it became too late.

A chill went up their spines as the fake gave them an evil smile that didn't fit well on their carefree teammate. In a poof of smoke, the Naruto changed into what they recognized as the freak genin that gave Anko her knife back yesterday.

"My, my," he said, "both of your skills are much better than I initially thought."

Sasuke took a step backwards at the sight of the newcomer. He remembered how the genin had spooked Anko by his mere presence; though, for what reason, he had yet to know. Jounin weren't people to go on guard for no apparent reason.

Every instinct in Sakura's body was telling her to run, like a mouse running from a snake ready to coil around its prey. There was something off from the very moment she saw him, but what it was, she couldn't put her finger on it. It was only natural for her body to shake in terror.

"I really wished to kill Naruto-kun, but it's unfortunate that little witch beat me to it," the genin told them with a sickening smile that made them take a step backwards. "I do hope you two will give me a good challenge like he will for her."

That was when the killer intent hit them.

* * *

Naruto finally caught up to Shizuka, but when he sliced at her with his ice sword all he met was another illusion. He cursed as he landed and began to search for her, expanding his _Kyoukagan's_ abilities to their fullest extent.

Just as he was about to locate her, the ground below him cracked and then busted open, revealing Shizuka as she jumped out. She made a grab for Naruto's goggles with the hopes of snatching them off of his face, but he bent backwards and fired another ice kunai that sliced into her side and made her fall to the ground ungracefully.

She jumped out of the way as Naruto stabbed the ground she laid on, and before he could continue his assault, she grabbed her butterfly knife and a kunai and parried both blades at the same time.

The blond cursed as he seeing her arm now healed up enough to allow use of it, but not enough to close the wound; she was still bleeding profusely. It brought him some satisfaction, though, every time she moved, even when those were wounds most shinobi could slide by with.

They charged at each other, Shizuka parrying most of Naruto's hard blows with her knives. He crossed his swords like a scissor, but she bent backwards and then kicked him hard in the chin, launching him away from herself.

Before Naruto could straighten himself out, she was already upon him. He swept his swords outwards just as she was about to grab his goggles, but she jumped backwards at the last second. A kunai pinned the area where Naruto's head formerly occupied, and to counter he launched one of his ice swords like a missile, hitting her in the thigh and making her hit the ground.

Out of panic, she tried to stand, but was pushed to the ground by a sandal against her chest. She then felt an ice cold tip against her neck: Naruto's other sword.

"I win," he told her.

"You wish, Silver-Eyes," Shizuka shot back, "but you're not the only one who can think of a plan on the wire."

At that second she glared at him, but unlike normal, something happened. Naruto felt like he just been punched in the face as he was thrown a couple feet backwards, and as he stood, he felt naked for some odd reason. Then he felt his face, his eyes widening at the sensation of his missing goggles.

"Looking for these?" Shizuka asked him mockingly from behind his back.

He was afraid to, even when every single last one of the voices in his head told him not to look, but he did so anyways. Naruto saw her holding his goggles where they landed from the illusionary punch to his face. It was also unfortunate for him when she swung them near her own naked eyes.

"Oh, crap," he muttered as she melted into leaves.

Around him, he could see leaves picking up in a soft gale, circling around him in a large funnel as he slowly stood; the beginnings of a powerful illusion he was going to be at the receiving end of.

Naruto knew he had been royally screwed over. He made the mistake of accidentally looking into the eyes of Shizuka.

* * *

Sakura felt her forehead where a kunai had lodged itself. Usually when things like that happened, people usually dropped, but instead her hand went through it, only confirming what she was thinking. She concentrated her chakra and released a small pulse of it, dispersing the hellish, grisly illusion.

Next to her Sasuke used his _Sharingan_ to pull out of it, and then doubled over to vomit. That one had to be one of the top ten worst genjutsu out there. He'd been subjected to some pretty bad shit, but that one was particularly nasty –not Tsukuyomi nasty, but still pretty bad.

At the sound of the genin's chuckling, Sasuke glared at him with enough hatred that he might have been looking at Itachi.

"Is this it?" the freak asked, moving slowly towards them. "I expected better."

Sakura stood up, grasping Bloody Rose as hard as she could in her shaking grip. She didn't want to be useless, but what was she supposed to do?

"Oh, how cute; a little sword mistress," Orochimaru taunted.

He then pulled at his face as if it was a mask, and as he did, his eyes turned sickly yellow and slitted, reminding the genin too much of a snake's. He then let go of it as he spoke: "Do you really think that you could take me with that little toy?"

With wide eyes, she took a couple more steps backwards, Bloody Rose vibrating even more than before. But she took one look at the recovering Sasuke and steadied her grip as much as she could from under the snake's gaze.

"Sakura, back away, I'll fight him," Sasuke ordered as he slowly stood, digging into his kunai pouch for a weapon.

He was caught off guard by her answer. "No, I'm going to help! I'm not useless like before!"

"Sakura…" he tried to order.

Before he could finish his statement, she snapped at him again. "I'll distract him while you go and make a trap!"

The ebony-haired boy tried to protest, but instead Sakura popped a soldier pill from her kunai pouch into her mouth, giving her a brief burst of chakra. Quickly, she began a set of hand seals Sasuke couldn't recognize… and couldn't copy with his active _Sharingan_.

Orochimaru stopped his advance while raising an eyebrow. Evidently this little girl had just enough guts in her to perform a jutsu, but from what he could see with as many seals as she was going through, this move was going to be taxing on her small chakra reserves.

Finally, she stopped on ox. "_Metal Release: Dragon's Spine!_"

Orochimaru's eyes widened at the mention of a Bi-Element, but his surprise was only capitalized even more as Sakura touched the ground and released a set of rapidly growing trail of metal spikes that were quickly making their way towards him. He jumped to the side, but then jumped again as they began to follow him like a bloodhound on the trail. The snake jumped all over the place, but everywhere he touched would explode into a new set of metal spikes.

Next to Sakura, Sasuke's mouth dropped. He'd seen Naruto's ice moves, but he now felt the idiot had nothing on Sakura's metal moves. It only surprised him even more at the fact that he couldn't copy the attack. Did Sakura suddenly develop a Bloodline Limit? If so, how long had she been keeping it a secret?

Sakura was now straining to keep it up. This attack required a huge amount of chakra to work with, and it was supposed to be much bigger, but with her tiny reserves she couldn't bring out the full potential of the attack.

Orochimaru jumped up to a tree to escape the dirt, knowing the metal element had to be earth based, but before he could relax, a spike rapidly grew, aiming at him in the tree. Just as he was about to jump off, it stopped an inch away from his face. Looking towards the girl, he could see why: Sakura ran out of chakra and collapsed on the ground.

"Sakura!" Sasuke said as he came to her side.

"Go," was all she said as she stood back up, digging out another soldier pill. She gave one last look to him as he nodded and went off to the forest to set up a trap.

As she turned around to greet her enemy, Orochimaru punched her in the face, launching Sakura across the clearing. She thanked the gods that she still held onto the soldier pill and popped it into her mouth as she lay on the ground, even as Orochimaru slowly advanced on her again.

She quickly jumped up and ducked under his kick and grabbed a kunai, but before she could stab him, he bent in an ungodly way and snatched her hand. Orochimaru then launched her back at the point where they started.

"You have a lot of potential," he said as he slowly walked to her.

Sakura found her katana next to her and grabbed the weapon. She stood up to meet him, but she couldn't help but shiver in fear at the sight of his yellow, snake-like eyes.

What was this man? He had to be a monster in the skin of a human. There was no way she was fighting just another ninja. Those thoughts only intensified her already great terror.

"But you lack so much at the same time," he continued, hitting a sore spot on her emotions. "You're indeed the weakest member of your team."

Despite her current circumstances, Sakura couldn't help it as she listened to the painful truth the ugly genin spoke.

She had to admit, he was right. Every time there was a battle, it was always Naruto or Sasuke that saved her or did the hard work. All she did was guard people or do meaningless work.

But she was tired of that! She would be strong for her teammates!

"You're right," she said, raising her now wild and angry eyes at him, "but I refuse to stay the same!"

Sakura could feel a surge of adrenaline entering her body as she took a stance Sasuke taught her.

She wouldn't let them down; her teammate was counting on her to distract this monster for a short time, and Naruto was going to win his fight and then search for them. Her resolve to be stronger hardened more than ever in that second. She wasn't going to roll over and play dead!

With that, she roared and charged forward, her katana readied to strike. Orochimaru parried the initial blow, but she seemed to have sped up in her righteous anger as she already had a second attack ready, making him grab a second kunai to parry it. But then he did something Sakura knew was not genin level; he caught the katana in between the two knives and, using strength nearer to jounin, then broke Bloody Rose.

Out of shock, Sakura jumped backwards, still holding what was left of her precious sword. Her eyes were wide in fear. Sasuke and she were up against someone that shouldn't be here. No wonder Anko got so worked up.

Orochimaru rolled up his sleeve, revealing an intricate tattoo. He bit his thumb and then wiped the blood across it, and in a poof of smoke, the largest snake Sakura ever saw appeared. It had to be at least a hundred feet long, and behind it, its master smiled evilly.

"Devour her," he ordered his summon, making the snake hiss in delight.

Sakura put away the remains of her beloved katana in her kunai pouch –she didn't know why, but she wanted to keep her sword and maybe even fix it later- and began doing hand seals for the first move that came to mind.

Orochimaru watched in fascination as she finished the seals, curious to see what other metal move the girl had up her sleeve. _"Metal Release: Dragonfly Weaver!"_

She punched into the ground, making it shake slightly from the impact, and when she pulled out her hand, a long metal pole followed, revealing an elegant spear she experimentally spun around.

The traitor licked his lips in anticipation. Maybe this girl would have some use to him… Depending on what happened next, she would either be useful to his cause, or he might be merciful and put Sakura-chan out of her misery.

The summoned snake swayed its head, determining what would be the best angle to attack. After a second, it roared and charged straight on, figuring it could just swallow the stupid human before it ran away.

Sakura leapt as hard and as high as she could, making the snake eat dirt, and then landed spear first on its head, jamming it into the serpent's skull. It flailed around wildly to get the girl off, but Sakura kept hanging on to the spear with white knuckles, using chakra to stick to the scales.

When the snake couldn't shake her off, it slithered as fast as it could into the direction of a tree with its head down to squash her. Being the smart person she was, Sakura dived off and watched as the snake rammed into it, further piercing itself with the spear and making it go straight into the brain. She sighed in relief as it disappeared in a cloud of smoke, marking its end.

Sakura's breath suddenly caught as she felt a cold hand wrap itself around her throat. Sakura could then no longer move her limbs, suddenly becoming paralyzed from fear, a minor genjutsu from what she could sense. She clenched her teeth while wondering what he planned to do to her.

"You're of some use to me after all," a chilling voice whispered into her ear. Sakura could tell that it was much deeper, belonging to an older, more sinister male, but it didn't belong to the genin using it right now.

"I only planned to give this gift to Sasuke," he continued, "but I know you'll enjoy it as well. You'll come to me, seeking the power you so desire."

A single tear fell out of the corner of her eyes as Sakura felt the sharp tips of a pair of fangs pierce the side of her neck. The moment they entered an awful burning shot allover her body, breaking the illusion she was in and making her fall to the ground screaming.

"SAKURA!" Sasuke yelled as he leapt into the clearing, now done setting up the elaborate trap.

He ran to her side as she stopped yelling, but through the silence he could hear Sakura gnashing her teeth. She gasped for air and shook, almost to the point she was having a seizure. After several seconds of Sasuke agonizingly watching her, she closed her eyes and passed out from the intensity of the pain.

"You… YOU BASTARD!" Sasuke screamed, as he stood up and stared at the monster watching him. "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO HER!"

"Nothing," for the first time, Sasuke heard the darker and deeper voice. "I thought she was worthy enough, so I gave her a little gift. Of course, there's always a one in ten chance that she'll die."

The Uchiha was so rage filled his _Sharingan_ instinctively turned on. Orochimaru watched with glee as a new tomoa entered the boy's eyes, upping the power of his Doujutsu even more.

"Splendid," he said as he tore off his mask, revealing the true face of the most infamous traitor of Konoha. "Let us fight Uchiha Sasuke, and let me see if you're as worthy as she was!"

He was caught off guard by the sudden sight of the infamous Orochimaru, but it wasn't enough to scare off Uchiha Sasuke. If anything, it only served to piss him off even more knowing the traitor had the balls to come back and raise hell in his former home.

Of course, the traitor attacking Sakura –a person he couldn't believe he had become so attached to- was an even deeper sin. He _hurt_ one of his most precious people. There was hell to pay!

Sasuke roared like an angry lion as he charged the smirking Orochimaru.

* * *

Naruto cautiously walked around, his last sword at the ready for the moment he heard anything even remotely off. All around him, leaves swirled in a complicated illusion he could tell wasn't going to be good for his health. A gentle breeze was heard whistling in the area, but it only unnerved Naruto even more.

His _Kyoukagan's_ sensing abilities were now useless since it was nothing more than a fuzzy feeling all around, and he couldn't afford the sixteen seconds to change Limits; otherwise, those seconds would turn disastrous for him. _Hyouton_ could be very effective, but only if he could see his opponent.

The blond looked to his sword as he heard a shattering sound, and then cursed as he saw it in pieces on the ground. He looked up and saw an image of a smirking Shizuka briefly flash into existence, twirling her butterfly knife in between her fingers. He growled as he fired an ice kunai at it, but the image of the girl disappeared.

It didn't take a genius to know she had an unbelievable advantage in this fight, and the problem was that she knew it too.

"I hate that bitch," he muttered, but the next second, a gash appeared on his shoulder.

Obviously, she didn't like to be called names.

Naruto had to think. There had to be a way out of this mess. The chances, though, looked so bleak. He wished he knew a couple more ice moves, especially a defensive one, but no luck there.

Then again, he did have that one he was working on. It wasn't the most defensive of moves, but it would buy him some distance, and maybe a little bit of time.

He quickly flashed through a set of hand seals, performing Haku's third ninjutsu. He stopped on 'dog' and the air around him began to dry out.

"_Ice Release: Winter Shards!"_

Water began to rapidly spin around him in a large dome, making the invisible Shizuka back off a bit. Then, Naruto shoved the wind chakra into the water. Using the momentum of the spinning water, thousands of ice shards, varying in size from tiny to shuriken sized, launched from him in all directions. Everything was turned into ice cushions, including Shizuka, who was much too close.

She bled from everywhere, and looked at him with something akin to shock, but then smirked and turned into a pile of mud.

It was Naruto's turn to be shaken. That was a damn clone, a move that he was supposed to be specialized in, and yet he had been fooled by one!

"You'd be a fool to think I don't know moves outside of my genjutsu," her voice told him. "Play time is over; it's time to end this."

Naruto only had a chance to widen his eyes before he suddenly began getting shredded by an invisible enemy. He almost screamed from all the gashes he was getting; not an inch of his body was spared.

He couldn't get out. All around him he could feel pain and the feeling of cold steel piercing his skin. This was no illusion like before; she was actually killing him this time.

He fell to his knees, breathing hard and rapidly losing blood. By time she got done with him, he looked as if someone took broken glass across his back, face, and limbs; and from what he could tell, she slipped the knife in between his ribs and gotten both lungs, and maybe even came close to cutting the heart. Now, he looked like a bloody mess. All around him, his life blood stained everything and there was nothing he could do about it.

Naruto could feel his eyelids suddenly becoming heavy, as if he just became so tired that he couldn't keep them open. His body felt numb, as if he was being pulled away. And at that moment, he could also hear a sweet voice telling him to come home –later, when he looked back on this moment he guessed that might've been his mother. Without a doubt, he knew he was dying.

Slowly, his eyes blinked away his last moments of life, and in between, he could see Shizuka coming closer to him.

"I guess you'll never hear the end of the story," she told him mockingly as she stood in front of him, putting her hands on her hips. "I'll admit, you gave me a run for the money, but in the end it doesn't matter."

She knelt down to him and cradled his chin so that he could look into her uncovered eyes. "This is revenge, just like how your father killed mine, Namikaze Naruto. He died the same way: shredded and cut up. Enjoy your death."

Komoriuta Shizuka stood and slowly backed away, a satisfying smile on her face as she watched Naruto slowly dying. She then spun around and began to walk away while storing her balisong.

Naruto knew if he blinked this last time, he would die. With all his might, he kept his eyes open, but failed miserably. They slowly began to fall, the world being cast in a never ending darkness he'd be forever engulfed in.

_No… I can't die._ The soothing voice of the angel of death kept getting louder._ There… there are too many people… that care for me… Iruka, Sandaime, Kakashi, Anko, Yamato… Tenten… Sakura… Sasuke…_

_Hinata…_

At the thought of her name, he began to allow himself to cry silvery tears with what little time he had left. She became his best friend; she knew all the pains he did, and she actually cared for him. He had to live; if only for her. If he left, who would care for her like he did?

He then closed his eyes.

* * *

"Naruto, hope is never lost," a calm voice whispered to him.

When he opened his eyes, he found himself in his mindscape, staring into the stormy-blue eyes of his dead friend, Haku. His friend wore a white kimono as stainless as his soul, and he looked at Naruto as if he was never dead, smiling and being friendly like the moment when he was picking herbs.

Looking at his self, he could see that he didn't have the gashes Shizuka gave him, and the clothes Anko and Iruka had bought him were no longer shredded.

His mindscape had also changed. The cracks in the mirrors seemed to be fixing themselves and the water he was standing on looked like the silver he cried. He turned his head slightly to Kyuubi's cage, but found that the demon wasn't there.

He turned back to Haku, and sadly smiled. It seemed his friend was also his guardian angel.

"What's wrong, Naruto? You look so sad," Haku asked.

"I'm so tired," Naruto muttered sadly. "I don't know if I can keep going."

"Are you giving up? That's not the Naruto I remember," Haku gently spoke to him.

It took a couple of seconds for Naruto to think about it. He was never one to just throw in the towel, but it was so hard. So many people wanted him dead, and each one just seemed to get stronger. Could he truly continue on?

"Naruto," he turned back to Haku on the verge of crying out in frustration and sadness. The boy before him still wore the sad smile that seemed so comforting to him. "Everyone has a weight of some kind on their shoulders. Some others have heavier burdens, but nobody has too much. It all depends whether they're just going to stop and give up. I'll admit you have it rough, but it's just the right amount for you. You can do things nobody else can, and that's what makes you so unique."

After a second, Naruto nodded his head. He was right; circumstances were what put him here, and the only thing he could do was to keep going until the burden got lighter.

"Naruto," Haku's smile slipped, being replaced by a sad frown, "you have a beautiful but terrible power. It has consumed so many in the past. The price of the mirror flower is great, and to grasp it is to grasp this curse."

In Haku's hand, the silvery flower from Naruto's dreams formed itself. The cursed boy knew from looking at it that it could give him strength, but at the same time it would consume him. The former _Hyouton_ user reached out the hand holding the rose, handing it off to the boy.

"I wouldn't touch it if I were you," a voice that Naruto hated so much spoke with caution.

Naruto spun around, finding the Kyuubi standing on the water with them. She was smiling seductively and held out her hand for him to grasp, but Naruto took a step back.

"Come to me instead. I'll give you what you want; I'll lighten that burden," she told him, smiling like the angel she wasn't. "If you take that rose, you'll regret it immediately."

"Naruto," he turned back to Haku, who wore his sad smile again, "power has a price, no matter where you turn. Either choice is not wrong. It just depends on what you want."

"That's why he should come to me," Kyuubi interrupted. "I'll make him great. He'll become the Hokage with my power. He'll be loved, and he will be the greatest."

Naruto closed his eyes for a second and when he opened them, they burned with determination, more than they ever had. Slowly, he walked over to Haku, forcing the Kyuubi to make a shocked face over his choice.

"The price for this power is high, Naruto," Haku warned as he held out the rose. "Are you sure about this?"

"I am," he quickly answered.

Haku nodded. "Just remember: the choice between the mirror flower and the fox is always open."

Naruto nodded and gently took the flower, but from behind him, the Kyuubi shook her head. Her container leaned to close to the light… and now he was going to pay the price.

"Enjoy your mistake," the Kyuubi whispered as she watched Naruto disappear from his mindscape.

* * *

Shizuka stopped as she suddenly felt a cool sensation, like the feeling of cold steel rubbing against her body.

"No way," she muttered in shock as she spun around.

The sight greeting her eyes made her take a step back in awe. Naruto was slowly standing as silvery chakra began to come off of him like a silver wind. Then the onrush became more intense until the chakra began to spiral around its master. It moved chaotically like fire, but the next minute it moved as fluently as water.

Naruto's wounds rapidly began to heal, his blood becoming silvery and reflective as the wounds mended themselves before Komoriuta's eyes. Tears of silver gently fell from his face as his birthmarks became more defined; and his hair began to fade until it became shimmering metallic silver.

Shizuka visibly grinded her teeth and clenched her fist as she watched him fully rise. Her eyes also glowed dangerously, and around her, the air became distorted from her illusionary chakra.

"WHY WON'T YOU DIE!" she finally yelled, losing control of her temper.

The answer she got was not one she had been expecting. "Because," Naruto answered with a voice that seemed to echo, "they all depend on me."

For one of the few times in her life, Shizuka didn't know what to say.

Naruto felt cold, as if the blood in his body had suddenly cooled. It also felt like he was falling into nothingness, as if a cord snapped preventing him from falling into an abyss suddenly snapped. The deeper he fell, the more powerful he became.

Shizuka took a step back in shock when he opened his eyes. They were fully active, and now the whites of his eyes became silvery as well. But it wasn't this that had made her take a step back.

His eyes were a window into his soul, and from there she could see an infinite sea of insanity.

Kill Joy no Jutsu (A.K.A. Author's Note): I'm back and I'm better than ever! If you all are wondering why there hasn't been any update for any of my stories, well, I'm only seventeen, which means I still live with my parents. Yes, that's right, I got grounded. Trust me, I was having withdrawals after the first day, and I even snuck to the internet cafes I was so desperate. Too bad foreign USB aren't allowed on their computers. It sucked. And I've also been in and out of town for various reasons, either to see my girlfriend, or just because I get dragged along by the family. Time for discussion and my other notes.

The chapter itself was pretty straightforward, but it became so epic that I had to make it into a two part chapter. I basically give you one of the most epic battles of my entire story. I'll have a lot but there are some specific ones I planned to be big, i.e. this one. It was actually a little hard to write because I had to switch between the Sasuke and Sakura/Orochimaru and the Naruto/Shizuka fight. Tell me what you all thought of the changes.

One of the most obvious changes you should have seen was Sakura getting a Cursed Seal. Which one? Well, I'll leave that as a surprise. For you Sakura haters out there: don't be offended. I don't bash characters; it ruins a good story very quickly and whenever I review stories I'll always flame the ones that do it, but I will do what very few authors will: use characters to advance my storyline.

If you don't know, Shizuka's full name is Shizuka Komoriuta. Her name literally translates as 'peaceful lullaby' and is an intended pun against her. And yes, if you hadn't or had guessed, she is the primary antagonist of Naruto: Shattered Eyes Part One.

Here's the list of original jutsu and Limits, including the info on the Genzoume that some of you have been wanting.

Forbidden Scroll of Techniques:

Demon Illusion: Nightmare Hell Forest- Genjutsu- Mid S Class- A powerful illusion technique that almost always requires the augmentation of a Limit in order to work. It requires near perfect control outside of a Limit to work. It works by making the surrounding forest seem monstrous, but skilled users aren't limited to just trees and can even use other plants such as flowers. It all is nothing more than a monstrous illusion that is usually sure to trick even the strongest of minds into thinking it's real. Has a high rank because of the complexity and the effectiveness of the illusion. Shizuka Komoriuta is one of the few people alive that can effectively use this attack.

Metal Release: Dragon's Spine- Ninjutsu- Bloodline Limit- An effective attack that quickly turns an area into a field of spikes. If used with higher chakra control, one can control the direction the attack takes and can even make it follow targets. Spikes can vary in size, and some can even grow to the size of a tree. For best use, a large amount of chakra is necessary.

Ice Release: Winter Shards- Ninjutsu- Bloodline Limit- An attack created by Haku before his death, it gathers nearby water either from the air or a nearby source and makes it spin in a dome at a fast pace. Using the momentum gained from the spinning, the user adds his secondary chakra and releases the ice, creating a large spread shot of varying ice fragments that can quickly shred, maim, or impale an opponent. Excellent for crowd control, but not good if there are allies nearby.

Original Limits:

_Genzoume (Phantom Image Eye)_ - Transcendent Limit- One of the Three Great Doujutsu, the user is marked by forever pearlescent green eyes. According to legend it was originally used by the Sage of the Water Moon, possibly the greatest master of illusionary techniques. The Genzoume hadn't reoccurred until modern times, now in the possession of Komoriuta Shizuka, a genin that hails from Hidden Twilight.

According to legend, all illusionary techniques are descended from the Genzoume, and thus this Limit specializes in powerful hybrid illusions that are almost near impossible to break. Usually they're only limited by the user's imagination and whatever happens really does occur because it tricks the brain into thinking its real. On top of this, the user can even form illusions using their own chakra, rather than using their enemy's chakra like regular genjutsu requires. The illusionary abilities even go as far as to fool other Doujutsu, including the Sharingan and the Byakugan, thus making this the ultimate limit involving illusionary techniques.

To use such powerful illusions, the Genzoume has an equally powerful nervous system and powerful mind. Users are known to have above normal senses, comparable to or even higher than that of the Abarume bugs and the Inuzaka clan. Their minds are also just as, if not more, powerful than a Nara's, allowing users to process information at phenomenal speeds and gifting them with high IQs. Because their nervous system is dramatically increased, an incredible sense of balance also comes naturally to them.

A Genzoume user's eyes are also very unique; if they can make eye contact, they can gain control of an enemy's senses, increasing the power of their already effective illusions. More powerful users can even look into a person's mind and read it, only as long as they keep eye contact.

Of course, power has a drawback. The senses they pride themselves on are incredibly sensitive and any too powerful stimulus is going to cause damage to them. Because their sense of pain is also increased, it could only take a well-placed hit put a user out of the fight, making them incredibly fragile compared to the normal ninja. Also, electricity disrupts their nervous systems, making wide ranged electric attacks one of their worst enemies. Another minor weakness is that if a person is wearing something over their eyes, like goggles or sunglasses, they're immune to the user's stronger illusions, and until they come off, a user cannot fight to their full potential.

They're might be a couple more of hidden abilities that have yet to be recorded as of yet…


	13. Tears of the Seraphim, Part Two

Chapter 13- Tears of the Seraphim, Part 2

**Chapter 13- Tears of the Seraphim, Part 2**

Anko reclined on the top of her desk, binging on her usual boxes of dango, though not with her usual gusto. If anything, her frown deepened with every bite.

Her current stick finished, she hurdled it like a senbon at the wall, where it stuck unerringly at the end of a line of similarly-thrown skewers, the series almost perfectly tracing out the leaf insignia of Konoha. She had long lost count of how many sticks she had eaten, her mind in mixture of turmoil, mostly worry for her little brother.

With a sigh, she sat upright and opened her next box. (Her fifteenth, to be precise, though she didn't know that.)

"Why do I get the feeling this day is only going to get even shittier?" she muttered to herself as she downed yet another stick.

With pinpoint accuracy, she completed the Konoha symbol with the last stick she had devoured. Even then, she continued digging into her favorite comfort food.

She was trying to determine whether or not she was having a bad day. First, she had awoken to the worst hangover that she had ever had in a long time- hangovers to Anko as what Butsumetsu was to the average citizen. Naruto was in the Forest of Death and worrying her sick; Iruka had yet to stop by and say 'hi', which he had been doing more often ever since she began taking care of the lovable blond idiot.

Anko paused her thinking as she threw the last empty box of her favorite treats onto the pile in the corner of her office.

And to top off her troubles, she had just run out of dango.

For a second, she wondered if she should curse the gods for her awful luck, but that might be kind of a taboo thing to do. The gods had a weird sense of humor when it came to stuff like that, and more than likely, they would get their kicks by piling it on. Better not to jinx her already bad day.

But she couldn't help but wonder how her day could get worse.

That was when her office door slammed open, revealing a panting chunin that looked as if he had been running for several miles without chakra to aid him.

_I jinxed it!_ she thought to herself with a hint of despair, straightening up to at least look intimidating.

"What do you want?" Anko wondered if she didn't put enough killer intent into the words since the man didn't flinch.

"Mitarashi-san, our men discovered something disturbing," he answered in a huff.

_Oh, Kami-sama,_ she rolled her eyes._ I can already sense the headache coming on. Where the hell did I put that aspirin?_

"What happened?" she curtly spoke, crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes.

"Well…" he took his sweet time to answer, only frustrating the jounin even more than she was already. "We found the bodies of three Kusa genin near the fence at Training Area 44."

Every ounce of blood in Anko's body suddenly went cold.

"When we found them," the chuunin continued, "we guessed that they had been dead for over a day, but what really caught our attention was that…" He faltered.

"SPIT IT OUT, DAMN IT!" Anko yelled as she jumped off her desk, scaring her subordinate. Though, she couldn't help it as worry seeped from her eyes and voice.

"T-t-their faces were ripped off after they were killed!" he cringed, expecting her anger to get worse for stuttering.

When the jounin-powered punch never came, he looked back at her, finding her seemingly shocked. Her eyes scanned over the floor, trying to figure out what she should do. She covered her mouth as she paced for a second.

She didn't even have to look at the bodies to recognize the handiwork that had been done on the genin team. It was disturbingly familiar, and the more she thought about it, the more her skin crawled. Her _ex-_sensei didn't really have the balls to step foot back into Konoha, not after the fact that he was now the most wanted criminal in the Konoha bingo book. But the evidence was as plain as daylight.

The unnamed chuunin watched his superior carefully. Mitarashi Anko was one of the most unpredictable people on the planet, and to see her nervously moving about the room, and stopping once in while to mutter a curse, was an extremely foreign thing to the village. For a second, he wondered if she was going to turn around and beat the living daylights out him for interrupting her day.

After another minute, Anko finally conceded to the truth, letting a bit of sweat slide down her grimacing face. The yellow-bellied (and eyed) bastard was back.

Her eyes then widened as she remembered Naruto was in the Forest of Death.

_Oh, God… no, Naruto!_ When she looked up, there was a slight fear in her eyes, as if something precious to her was being threatened.

"You," she pointed at the unnamed chuunin; she didn't care at this point about her rep, Naruto was in the deepest danger possible. "Go find Iruka Umino, then report your findings to the Hokage! And move as if a fire is under your ass, or I'll kill you if I see you again!"

He didn't need to be told twice. If Anko said she would kill you, it meant you did what she told you to, otherwise she wouldn't have any qualms in fulfilling her threat.

Without a second thought, he scurried like a rat out of the room that was running for its life from a snake.

The next second, Anko burst out of the door as fast as possible. Once she was out of the building, she willed her jounin-trained muscles to get her to the forest with as much speed as she could muster.

_Please… if you're up there, please keep him safe_, she prayed for her little brother's safety.

Orochimaru was back in town, and Naruto's life was about to become Hell on Earth if they were to meet, even if it were by accident.

-0-

When he grabbed the silvery flower from Haku's hand, he had closed his eyes. Suddenly the sensation of holding onto a rope, dangling from the end while it was quickly being cut, took over. No matter how much he tried he couldn't open his eyes, and see where he was.

At that moment, the sound of a rope snapping from strain echoed, and then the feeling of falling rushed over him. Air rushed past him as he fell head-first downwards to wherever he was going. He couldn't scream; it was as if his mouth had locked shut. His eyes wouldn't open, and not a single muscle would respond to his commands as he fell. The only feeling he could sense was the onrush of air, whipping around his hair and making him hold his breath.

The deeper he fell, the more of himself he lost. Every painful memory he had entered his mind, even the ones he had thought had forgotten. He couldn't understand why, but now he felt sorrowful, and yet, a burning desire entered him that seemed to eclipse everything else. He felt an onrush of a powerful sensation as this warm, dark sentiment began to fill him. He couldn't describe it; it was a mixture of pleasure and pain, and it felt so foreign to his body, as if it wasn't his to feel.

Only a couple of words escaped Naruto's lips, in the form of a small whisper that was lost into the air, "What's happening to me?"

-0-

"You've really done it this time," were the biting words that came from a redhead that stared loathingly at a dark-haired boy with stormy eyes.

Haku just stared sadly back at the Kyuubi in her human form. "Naruto-kun simply chose for himself."

"Then why didn't he choose me?!" she shot back. "I could have given him everything he ever wanted! But no, HE HAS TO GO WITH YOU, PRETTY BOY!"

As she yelled, an angry bloodlust filled the air. Kyuubi began to become more feral looking as more of her wrath began to pour out in the now beautiful antechamber. But even with her display of a drop of her power, she couldn't even make Haku flinch. Instead he shook his head, looking even sadder than before.

He then kindly smiled, pissing off the demon before him even more to the point that a red haze began to surround her; the sign that she was on the verge of hitting the one-tailed form.

"What is the price of your power?" he finally asked.

In one instant, the raw power that was beginning to saturate into the room had suddenly disappeared. Kyuubi looked away in embarrassment while wearing an angry scowl.

"Power has a price," continued Haku, only making Kyuubi's scowl deepen. "To gain is to lose; and to lose is to gain. What is the price that Naruto would have to pay should he choose you?"

Reluctantly and slowly, she answered, the words coming out as if she had eaten something utterly loathsome. "The price for my power is…" she stopped for a second to clench her teeth "…his humanity."

She began to visibly grind her teeth as she stared at Haku. In Naruto's mind, the brat before her was equal, yet she couldn't understand why. She was supposed to be the greatest, the one who fought countless times, yet never lost. But now here she was, brought down so very low, all because of that blond hairless rat.

"Who are you?" she asked past clenched teeth. Her hands tightened into fists as killer intent leaked into the air once more.

Haku's smile became a sad frown, and for the next couple seconds, he began to stare into the liquid that the two were standing on, seemingly trying to gather his thoughts.

"ANSWER ME WHEN I TALK TO YOU, DAMN IT!" Kyuubi's wrathful voice echoed.

"I am only a representation of the Kyoukagan," Haku whispered, continuing to stare downwards. "I am Haku, but at the same time, I am the portrayal of the cost of such power."

Hearing that, Kyuubi's angry scowl quickly transformed into a devious smile. "Really?" If it was possible, her smile had become even more evil-looking than before. "That does explain so much."

She slowly, seductively, began to walk back to her cage, seemingly satisfied for the moment.

The queen of the foxes stopped for a second as another thought had suddenly hit her. Haku watched as she continued to stare into her cage, looking as if she was contemplating the words she would use next.

"I wonder what would scare him more," her voice gently echoed in the large room. "Myself, and the power that I could give him, or you, at least when he learns the cost of the Kyoukagan."

"I can only guess," Haku quietly voiced.

The redhead then disappeared between the bars, and slowly sunk back into the darkness, all the while casting an eerie, crimson glow as she moved deeper into the recesses of Naruto's mind.

-0-

Shizuka stared wide-eyed at Naruto, watching as the chakra danced chaotically around him. Every time the wind touched her, the sensation of cold steel rubbing against her skin returned. It was the silver chakra that was saturated into the air; the sheer amount was monstrous.

The leaves in the trees rustled in anticipation, as if they were in the front seats to a climatic game that was about to reach its peak. Nearby birds and animals cried out in fear, running somewhere safe, away from the battle that was about to unfold.

Another blast of wind quickly washed over the area, catching Shizuka off balance and making her stumble for a bit. When she regained her footing, she was caught off guard when she accidentally looked into Naruto's silvery eyes, seeing her fear-filled, shattered reflection for a brief second in his mirrored irises.

For a second, she wondered if that was truly her. She feared nothing, but yet, there was a feeling of dread that was slowly creeping into her being. That was something she had thought she had smashed out of her soul so long ago, but clearly there were still lingering sentiments of that forgotten part of her mind.

Narrowing her eyes, she squashed the fear rising in her chest. This was just power in a manifested form. There was nothing to be afraid of. Still, she couldn't bring herself to look into his eyes once more.

Surprise returned as she saw laid eyes upon Naruto's face._ He's changing more!_

The now defined whisker marks had started to take a silver tint, now looking as if someone had taken sandpaper to painted metal; his hair began to pale, until finally it looked as if he had a head full of metallic silver strands. Suddenly, the onrush of chakra receded into its master, taking the seemingly demonic wind with it. Around Naruto, the air still seemed to distort from the raw power he was emanating.

"What… are you?" Shizuka whispered with a sneer.

Naruto clenched and unclenched his hands. He then slowly raised his right hand to his face, watching as the air around it became distorted.

His body felt as cold as ice. He wanted to shiver, but the sensation never came; his breath was as cold as his body. The chakra moved in chaotic patterns just under his skin, waiting to be unleashed in some devastating attack.

The sun-kissed boy then did something that was completely uncharacteristic of his self: he smirked. Even though he felt so cold, this feeling… it was addictive. It made him want to draw upon more, and more, until every last drop in this new well of power was drained dry.

"I wonder what ability of the Kyoukagan this is?" he quietly mused to himself.

He then frowned as he remembered something that he had said just a couple minutes ago. It had something to do with his friends, about wanting to protect them, or some other crap like that, but he couldn't remember. What friends did he have? With this new power, he didn't need anything else.

Every sense in his body went on high alert as he felt another being nearby. When he looked around, the only person he could find was Shizuka. He could see her hand was slowly inching towards her butterfly knife, and that she had taken a defensive stance.

He couldn't understand why, but he wanted to feel her blood in between his fingers.

Shizuka flinched as a deadly killer intent suddenly flooded the area. Sweat began to bead her brow as it increased with every second that ticked by, adding to what seemed like a ton of weight to her shoulders. Her breath became more ragged as she fought, trying her hardest merely to stay standing upright.

_I… I never felt such an intense bloodlust in my entire life,_ she frantically thought as she wobbled.

Finally, she fell to one of her knees, and instinctively held a hand to her mouth as she felt her breakfast reviving itself. Just before she could vomit, the killer intent lifted as fast as it came on.

"I don't need to see you puke," Naruto told her, a hint of sadistic amusement tinting his voice. "I'd probably get sick just from watching you."

His voice sent a chill up her spine. She couldn't help but be reminded of the cold edge of a blood-stained sword, poised at the throat and ready to deal the final blow. And she could imagine the person holding the sword as well, a sadistic killer covered from head to toe in scarlet wearing a smile.

She almost had to force her head up when she looked up at him, panting and sweating from the intense bloodlust. When her eyes met his visage, he had the most disturbing grin painted to his face. It was his eyes that made her nervous, though. Like she had seen before, they looked as if they belonged more to a psychotic demon that had been unexpectedly unleashed onto the world, rather than the formerly sarcastic blond that held them now.

_This isn't the same person I was fighting a second ago._ She wiped the perspiration that had collected away from her forehead, and stood up, pulling her balisong out and flipping it through her fingers. _What happened? What ability of the Kyoukagan is this?_

Naruto continued to smile disturbingly. He laughed quietly to himself as he watched her knife, glinting in what little sunlight seeped through the canopy of the forest. The thought was amusing to him. She was going to try and fight back. It was almost pathetic.

"Don't die too soon on me," Naruto sarcastically told her, clenching and unclenching his fists at his sides in anticipation. "I need a guinea pig to test my new powers on."

"Funny," she kept an emotionless mask on, but just underneath was a thin layer of nervousness that she was trying her best to conceal, "I was just about to tell you the same thing."

The silver-eyed youth grinned evilly as he sensed that small hint of tension radiating off of her. Remembering his past battle with her and how she had seemed so confident back then, it made him want to show her just how weak she was.

"Are you scared?" Naruto asked, leaning slightly forward with a knowing smile. "I thought you were afraid of nothing."

"Why would I be scared?" she answered quickly, narrowing her eyes and smirking in a way that was eerily reminiscent of Sasuke, which made Naruto's hand twitch at the want to rip her lips off of her face even more. "I'm not afraid; I'm just… excited. This is going to be the biggest battle I've ever fought."

She was so much like his bastard of a teammate that he felt as if it was his turn to want to vomit.

"I know somebody who said the same thing, and then got his ass handed to him royally," he chuckled to her.

He took a fighting stance, one that Shizuka wasn't familiar with. For Naruto, it was high time to unveil the _Wraith Fist_ and it was also time to knock down the annoying redhead a couple- no, maybe thirty or so- pegs. This was the last time she was going to piss him off.

"Well then," he told her, "let's get it on."

Shizuka blinked once, and then he appeared two inches across from her face, his right fist poised to deliver an extremely hard uppercut.

-0-

Orochimaru smirked as he watched Sasuke running at him, angrily roaring as his Sharingan flared in his eyes.

Sakura…

As the Uchiha ran forward, he remembered the sight of her body lying on the ground, not moving, just barely able to breathe, and her neck bleeding from some strange wound. It only added to his anger. Sakura had become one of his few precious people, and now there was a chance that he was going to lose her. And it all was because of the stupid snake-in-the-grass before him.

His first move was to pull out a set of shuriken, attached to some thin wire barely noticeable to the naked eye. He launched them at the former Sannin, forcing his target to jump out of the way. Before his opponent could land on the ground, Sasuke twitched his fingers, his metal stars turning on a ryou, to target the vulnerable ninja. All he got from Orochimaru was a brief surprised look, and then another snake-ish smirk.

It was only with the Sharingan that Sasuke was able to see the snake pull out a kunai so fast that his hand was a blur. The next second, the thin wires on his shuriken were severed with a blurrily fast arm, severing his control over the weapons.

Just as he touched ground, Orochimaru looked up to see that Sasuke had followed after, all the while going through the hand seals for his signature _Fire Release: Grand Fireball Technique_. He snorted in amusement as the fireball came crashing down on him.

The ebony-haired boy landed on the ground, and with his Sharingan, he saw only a scorched a mound made of mud, much to his chagrin: an _Earth Clone,_ obviously. Narrowing his spinning crimson eyes, he drew a kunai by the ring at the end of the handle, twirling it on his finger. He couldn't place where his target was, and it was making him jumpy.

Before he could begin to wonder where the genuine article had gone to, the corner of his eyes picked up a minute amount of movement. On instinct, he ducked under the high-speed punch that his enemy had delivered, but he didn't predict the knee that went into his stomach.

Orochimaru was about to bring down his elbow onto the boy's back, but Sasuke flicked the wrist that held the kunai, cutting into his thigh and making his opponent jump backwards with a hiss.

Sasuke stared at Orochimaru, clutching his stomach as the traitor moved towards him, and just as he came within punching distance, the snake-eyed man put on a burst of speed that left nothing but a cloud of dust in his wake. Not expecting such a thing, Sasuke was thrown into a tree, creating a dent in the trunk with a shower of splinters and a brief jet of blood from his mouth.

As Sasuke wiped the blood from his chin, Orochimaru put on another burst of speed that turned his body into only a blurred outline. The next instant, Sasuke took several punches that were so fast that his body didn't have time to feel pain as he was catapulted through the other side of the tree.

For the next several seconds, Sasuke laid on the ground on his back, the stabbing pain in his lungs a clear indication of more than one broken rib. With a groan, he rolled over and once again spat out the blood collected in his mouth. His face was battered, blood leaking from out of his nose and mouth; one of his eyes was already showings signs of swelling, and it felt like someone had repeatedly hit his stomach with a mace. He just plain hurt.

"How pathetic," Orochimaru muttered to himself as he watched Sasuke slowly stand, not making an attempt to cover the disappointment that came out of his mouth. "Even Sakura-chan put up a better fight."

"Just…" Sasuke snarled, glaring past his bloodied face with enough force that even Itachi might have raised an eyebrow in pride. "Just shut the hell up!"

That comment made Orochimaru smirk in mocking amusement. "Oh, so you have a special connection to Sakura-chan? How cute. Maybe you two could come to me together, but that's if you live."

"I said," Sasuke said past clenched teeth, the spinning Sharingan in his eyes adding as much intimidation as he could possibly mix in, "SHUT UP!"

"Why?" continued the snake. "You're so weak. Your teammate Sakura lasted much longer than you have."

Orochimaru then grinned as he thought of a way to get Sasuke's goat.

For added effect, he rubbed his chin, making the Uchiha across from him narrow his eyes. "I bet even Naruto-kun would have put up a better fight. Maybe I should look for _him_ instead…"

He never got to finish his comment as Sasuke suddenly began pelting fireballs from his hands. Orochimaru quickly weaved through them, almost rolling his eyes as they missed him so easily, but he had never expected the shuriken hiding the flames, complete with more thin wire.

Before he could react, Sasuke moved his fingers, the wires wrapping around Orochimaru's ankles and legs. As the snake began to realize his predicament, Sasuke yanked hard on the wires. Orochimaru was pulled off balance, and with what anger coursed through his body, Sasuke began to spin his enemy in the air. When he felt that he had enough momentum, he let go of the wires, launching the traitor Sannin off the clearing and right into his trap.

Orochimaru looked down as he fell, his eyes widening at the wire trap meant to cut him to shreds. With surprise as his prey's ingenuity, and even some faint desperation, he dug his fingers into the side of the tree, carving a trail of gouge marks on the bark. As his speed began to slow, Sasuke jumped after and landed heel first into his target's stomach, increasing the speed once more.

The Uchiha clung to the tree as he watched with grim satisfaction at the sight of Orochimaru getting cut up into pieces by the sharp wire. But it was quickly turned into aggravation as he watched the clone dissolve into mud.

Even as his brain was still analyzing what just happened, Orochimaru's own heel went into the back of his head, making him fall right into his own trap.

"Nice try, Sasuke-kun!" Orochimaru yelled as he occupied the spot the boy had formerly been.

At the last second, Sasuke implemented 'Plan B', and performed a _Replacement_ that would have made any jounin's head spin. In his place was a large ball made entirely out of exploding tags about the size of a man's head, but what made the Sannin utter a curse was the fact that one of those tags was rapidly sizzling.

Several stories above his trap, Sasuke was running for his life. That was a lot of explosive power he had left behind, and there was no way in hell he was to sticking around for something that big.

Just as he was about to get in the minimum safe distance, a huge explosion tore through the area, complete with a shockwave that picked Sasuke up off his feet and hurled him into the air. He tumbled about for several more feet before rolling into a tree, upside down with his feet above him.

After ungracefully correcting himself with a thump, the Uchiha rubbed the side of his face as he realized that he may have added too much oomph to his creation. There had been enough power behind that haphazard bomb to level several close-together buildings at once.

Realizing that this was probably the end of the battle, Sasuke was about to sigh in relief, but it caught in his throat as a figure walked through the flames several feet in front of him, complete with amused smile.

"I was being nice earlier," Orochimaru told him, still wearing that sickening grin. "But after that little stunt, I think I'll make this a little bit more difficult for you."

Cursing under his breath, Sasuke used the tree he had rolled onto for support as he willed his sore legs to stand him up.

_Dammit, my trap didn't work_, he thought to himself as he tried to think of another plan. _What is this freak made of?_

The next second, Orochimaru came at him, running at high speeds and turning into a blur.

-0-

Naruto snorted in aggravation as the Shizuka he had given the uppercut dissolved into light; the signature of a genjutsu.

He had forgotten that she had control over his senses, meaning she still had control of the battlefield. It didn't take a Nara to know this spat between them wasn't going to be short.

The now silver-haired boy ducked as another clone of the girl shot out of the ground, her knife's edge reaching greedily for his jugular vein. It did not even come close, as with his newfound speed, Naruto was behind the fake and dispelling it with a punch before it could even register his movement. Four more appeared out of the trunks of the trees, gunning for him at high speeds.

Naruto held up a hand and shifted a foot to brace himself, his chakra pooling into his hand. As the fakes came close enough, he unleashed the unstable chakra in a single burst, an invisible shockwave of pure chakra lashing out to annihilate them all at once.

In the shadows, Shizuka herself watched carefully, sending out more illusionary clones. Her gifted mind studied Naruto's movements, noting how much faster whatever this new power of the Kyoukagan had made him. He was easily three times as fast as before already, and slowly increasing by the looks of it.

She glared, sending out another volley of clones, this time double the number as before.

Again, she watched him carefully. Not only had his speed gained a large boost, his strength had jumped almost monstrously as well. As seen by the fact that he caught her clone's knife barehanded and broke it. Her eyes narrowed even further as she watched the small cut he had taken heal almost immediately.

In her head, she counted down what abilities she had seen so far: increased speed and strength, and almost instantaneous healing.

She allowed her eyes to widen as Naruto collected chakra in his hands again. He quickly swept out his arms, creating two crescent-shaped, high-speed, silver chakra blades that effectively cut one clone cleanly in half, and decapitated the other next to it.

That was another ability she had forgotten to add: raw chakra manipulation of the highest degree. This new, unidentifiable chakra could be manipulated in ways she had never seen before, such as concussive shockwaves that were highly damaging, and also long range attacks such as the crescent-shaped blades.

Finding that there was nothing else to study, Shizuka touched the ground.

Around Naruto, all the clones he was fighting suddenly disappeared. Before he could ask what happened, the ground beneath him began to shake. Like a scene out of a horror movie, zombie-like humans crawled out of the ground, in the likeliness of fallen genin that had failed to past the exam and ended died.

Naruto stared emotionlessly at the gruesome scene, even as all the dead finished coming out of the ground; armed to the teeth with weapons. It was an illusion, albeit, a very powerful one, but this shouldn't be hard to get past. He just needed to find the illusionist herself.

With the weakness of the Kyoukagan removed, he allowed the shards to fall out of his eyes like snow, revealing the Hyakurai once more.

Behind a tree, Shizuka flinched as lightning began to dance off Naruto in a vibrant display. Out of his hands, it danced and cut into the ground. It raced up his body, crackling as it reentered him.

"Where are you?" Naruto sing-songed, smiling devilishly as he began to search for his target.

Her answer to his question was to order the zombies to attack the boy.

"Not going to answer, are we?" he muttered to himself in aggravation.

With quickened reflexes, he ducked under a sword strike and delivered a bolt of lightning that cut through the dead being. Another came at him with a spear, but he jumped up and landed on the tip, delivering a hard kick to the head that made it launch like a soccer ball. He jumped into the air again as a particularly dangerous dead genin came from behind him with a war-hammer, smashing the anything that got in his way. Using a shuriken he launched into the back of the angry zombie, Naruto sent out a lightning bolt to incinerate it. Debris of zombie parts went flying everywhere.

Then before he even made contact with the ground, he yanked out a double fistful of senbon and sent them pelting into everything. As the illusions came at him with seemingly hungry cries, he charged up his bioelectricity, and then jumped back into the air by using a zombie as a jumping platform. Using the senbon as lighting rods, he created a massive area of destruction with a thunderclap that was sure to be heard all over the forest.

He smirked as he landed, the illusion disappearing as Shizuka fell from behind a tree holding her sensitive ears.

"Oh, did that hurt?" Naruto asked sarcastically.

She glared at him, but then dodge-rolled out of the way as another silver chakra blade shot out at her. Just as she turned invisible, he sent out a kunai with electricity ready to follow it, striking the nearest tree to her with a lightning bolt. The massive plant split with another fantastic shower of splinters. Her invisibility flashed on and off as she fell to her knees, covering her ears once more.

Just as she jumped up to counter, a blast of chakra sent Shizuka rocketing through a tree. As she skidded across the ground, a couple of senbon stabbed into her shoulder.

"SHIT!" she shouted as she quickly pulled them out, but just before she could drop them, a streak lightning struck her from across the clearing. The fiery-haired girl was sent flying through the air with the force of an anvil, and cratered the ground when she made contact with the dirt.

Naruto slowly walked into the area of destruction, finding Shizuka in the middle of a crater, seemingly unconscious. Blood came out of one side of her mouth and more dripped out of her ears.

"What a loser," he sneered as he came up on her limp body- had he been normal, he might have noted that he sounded too much Sasuke in that instance.

As he came next to her, his body suddenly felt like it had been pierced in every joint by hundreds of thin spikes. Now, he couldn't move. Angrily clenching his teeth, he looked down to see a smirking Shizuka touching his foot with only her index finger.

"I'm not…" she attempted to say as she stood, only to hold herself up by the knees as vertigo hit her. "I'm not out yet."

When she could finally stand up fully, Shizuka flashed through a rapid series of hand seals, a green glow suffusing over her hands. With the healing chakra, she covered her ears and quickly began to heal them, and moved on to her body, repairing whatever shrapnel, stab, gouge, and whatever other wounds she had managed to incur. She worked slowly, however; it was obvious healing wasn't her specialty.

"B-Bitch!" Naruto cursed past clenched teeth; he couldn't move his jaw through the illusion.

"Loser, huh?" she told him, taking her sweet time to walk up to him. "Looks like you're the stupid one here. You just had to fall for such an obvious trap."

It happened faster in a split-second. Shizuka stopped her boasting as the clone went up in smoke. Before she could register what had just happened, Naruto popped out of the ground directly below her, delivering a sledgehammer uppercut. He wasn't done though; while in the air above Shizuka, Naruto grabbed her braid, and then swung her over his head. She hit the dirt with such force that she cracked the ground.

Shizuka had only one more second to look up into the air, her eyes widening at the sight of one last clone crashing down on her with an axe-kick, powered by the lightning the copy had concentrated into its foot. Once it made contact with the prone girl, an explosion rocked the area, sending the real Naruto flying backwards from the attack.

Unfortunately for the blond, he went headfirst into the ground, hitting a stone that happened to be in the way. Pain exploded throughout his head.

He looked up, watching as the sky started to become dark around the edges of his eyes. His body was going numb, and he couldn't move a muscle in his body.

"Damn," he quietly said to himself, wearing a grimace despite his growing unconsciousness. "And I was just having fun too."

The moment Naruto closed his eyes, the onrush of chakra suddenly stopped, and his body quickly began to warm up as the cool chakra was replaced with the natural blue type. The silver strands of hair that decorated his head quickly darkened to their original blond color; his whisker marks also became their original size and color.

After another minute of silence, Naruto stirred. When he opened his eyes, they were the joyous crystal-blue that he was well-known for, along with his silvery pupils and white sclera.

At first, his entire body felt numb, but after stirring, Naruto shot up and screamed bloody murder.

"IT HURTS LIKE HELL!" he yelled at the top of his lungs.

It felt like his chakra coils were being ripped out of his body; that was the only way he could describe it. He fell back to the ground, hugging his chest as he breathed laboriously. After what felt like an eternity, the pain ebbed away, leaving only a dull, throbbing headache that didn't hurt nearly as bad as the rest of his body.

Slowly, he tried to stand, but every second another cutting pain struck. He fell to his knees as he became nauseous. Unable to take it any longer, Naruto doubled over and threw-up.

Opening his eyes, they then widened as he found that his vomit was silvery. Naruto became spooked at the sight of it, frightened at what his Kyoukagan might be doing to his body.

With even more caution, he slowly tried to stand again. He wobbled as he stood fully upright, but felt nothing impeding his movements. Although his headache felt like it was ripping his brain apart, it paled in comparison to the spasms of pain that had racked his body mere seconds ago.

As he was trying to alleviate his increasing headache, the smell of burning skin struck his nose. Forgetting about his problems for the moment, he immediately pinpointed the source of the atrocious odor. His mouth dropped as his eyes fell upon the unconscious form of Shizuka, fresh burn marks adorning her body.

Naruto turned to his environment. His eyes widened as he took in the shear amount of destruction surrounding him. Nearby trees that were barely standing were split or splintered, craters marred the earth around him, and the area itself looked as if it had been subjugated to an intense battle.

"What… happened?" he said, slowly standing with one hand on his goose-egg.

After Haku and Kyuubi, it felt like he had fallen asleep. He remembered a dream of falling down an abyss, falling without end. With each passing second in the infinite darkness, he felt more of his self torn away.

It was strange to suddenly wake up and be in an environment that he wasn't familiar with, almost like waking up while in the middle of an a movie. Naruto didn't have any clue of how Shizuka had been beaten, or how come his body was suddenly in such good condition… Other than the occasional extreme spasms of pain, that is.

Ugk, he was getting nowhere with this, better to think about it later. The headache was making thinking really difficult anyway.

Standing up, slowly as to avoid yet another spasm, he walked over to Shizuka, noting at as he did the lack of tint to his vision. He frowned, realizing she still had possession of his precious eyewear.

Naruto stared down at her lifeless form. As much as he hated her, he didn't want to leave her just lying there. It wasn't his nature. Even if she was the most dangerous opponent he had ever encountered, he couldn't let her stay there in an undignified manner.

With a sigh, Naruto willed his pained body to pick up the, if only for the moment, quiet girl. It caught him off guard how light she was. In his arms, he also found her to be a surprisingly bony. She felt as fragile as porcelain; though, he wouldn't have thought so after the two battles that he fought with her.

As he breathed with difficulty, Naruto walked over to a nearby tree. Once he got close enough, he sat her down and propped her against the tree.

Remembering that Komoriuta girl was still in possession of his goggles, Naruto dug into one of her cargo pant's many pockets, finding them quickly.

"Ah, man," Naruto muttered to himself as he took in his the sight of his goggles.

He grimaced as he stared at the broken pieces that once kept his even more precious doujutsu hidden from the world. One of lens was looked on the verge of falling apart from all the cracks in it, and the other had been completely shattered.

It looked as if the cat was finally going to come out of the bag.

With an aggravated groan, he fully stood. Careful not to destroy them any more than they were, Naruto warily put the trashed goggles in a pocket on the inside of his jacket. He hoped that somebody in the village would be able to save them.

Sasuke and Sakura were about to get the truth of his Limit that they had fervently sought after in the Land of Waves. And it annoyed him to high-hell.

Another jolt of pain making him grip his aching side, he meandered out of the clearing before anyone else could attack him.

-0-

The fist Sasuke's face had taken could only be described as a cannonball that had been shot out of a cannon over a hundred feet long. He skipped across the ground like a stone on water until he finally hit a tree at the other end of the clearing.

Falling down to his knees, Sasuke vomited up blood yet again and then looked for Orochimaru. Staring at his enemy's original position, he found the snake-man had disappeared without a trace.

Before the Uchiha react, Orochimaru appeared out of the ground below. With one punch to the stomach, the Uchiha was sent into the air. Amidst the pain, Sasuke felt someone take a hold of his shirt, and looked in horror as the Sannin's hand had stretched to an ungodly length. He was then whipped around in the air, painfully landing on the ground. As he tried digging his fingers into the ground, he was thrown into the air into the side of a tree. He almost cried out in pain, but before he could try to grip anything, he was sent into a large rock.

Landing on the ground from the last attack he had taken, Sasuke pushed past the pain and quickly pulled out a shuriken and the strongest wire he could muster. As he was thrown into the air once more, he activated his Sharingan and swung the throwing-star, spinning it around the arm attached to his shirt. One of the points dug into the arm, and then Sasuke pulled as hard as he could on the wire, cutting into the arm.

"You little bastard," Orochimaru muttered to himself as he let go of Sasuke, though he showed more amusement than pain.

Still having a grasp on the arm, Sasuke pulled the string to his mouth as he landed on the ground and flashed a set of hand seals.

"_Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique!"_ Sasuke screamed past the wire in his mouth.

Orochimaru's eyes widened in surprise as a massive stream fire began at Sasuke's position, but then traveled down the wire and his arm, aiming straight for his body.

"Not bad," Orochimaru said, raising an impressed eyebrow as he was engulfed in flames.

The clone dissolved into yet another puddle of mud, but Sasuke tracked the movement with his doujutsu to find that Orochimaru had gone airborne. Faster than even a chuunin could track, Sasuke pulled out two kunai with wire, and sent them at the pale bastard before he could escape. His eyes guiding his movements, Sasuke maneuvered the kunai around Orochimaru's wrist as he landed on a tree branch. As the man moved to cut the attachments, Sasuke sent another wave of fire down the wire. Orochimaru jumped out of the way in time as he got loose, sparing himself severe burns.

With a growl, Sasuke began to run with chakra up the side of the tree that the predator had settled on. Seeing the oncoming boy, Orochimaru hurled a fan of shuriken at him.

Sasuke went through a short series of hand seals as he caught sight of the weapons.

"_Fire Release: Ember Shot!"_

Small fireballs launched from out of the palm of his hands, catching the shuriken in mid-flight and even sending a few back to attack Orochimaru himself. A grunt of acknowledgement for the boy's tactics, Orochimaru leaped from the tree, but Sasuke's rapid blasts followed, a small trail of destruction following in the ex-Sannin's wake.

Orochimaru moved with unnatural speeds through the trees, more like he was swimming between the branches like a snake. When the fireballs finally ran out, he ran down the side of a tree, towards the landing Sasuke. The moment he came close enough, he sent another hammer punch into the genin, but was actually surprised as a log replaced the boy.

He growled as he jumped backwards, watching as Sasuke smashed the ground he formerly stood on with a high-speed dive. The Uchiha spun and loosed a fan of kunai, but Orochimaru drew one of his own and deflected the projectiles.

In a moment of desperation, Sasuke daringly jumped at the distracted Sannin with an angry roar. Actually catching the snake-master off guard with such a bold and reckless move, Sasuke sent the man down tumbling down. After rolling on the ground, Orochimaru practically hissed as he returned his gaze to his enemy.

Before the snake could make a comeback, Sasuke sent more shuriken with wire out, completely missing the older man.

Orochimaru smirked. "What a joke…" He was cut off as Sasuke pulled on the string, tying him to the tree and cutting into his skin with the near-invisible wire.

_This is the last of my chakra_, tension ran even through Sasuke's thoughts as he went over the necessary hand seals. _I'm going to pour all of it into this attack! I can end this!_

His muscles tensed as all of the remaining chakra he had surged into his hands. The entire area in front of him caught fire in an instant, and the fire streamed down the wire so fast that Orochimaru didn't have enough time to inch towards his kunai pouch. The fire hit with such force that the tree trunk the Sannin was bound to instantly vaporized into ash. Bereft of its base, the remaining tree above came crashing down. Bird went screaming into the air in panicked flight.

After a moment, the smoke cleared, and Sasuke studied the area Orochimaru had been caught in. Sasuke couldn't find a single body part of the man and smirked, thinking he had vaporized him along with the tree.

"I won," Sasuke told himself. Turning around, he held a hand to his sore arm and spoke one last time as he walked away, "That was for Sakura."

Sasuke stopped dead with wide eyes as serpent-like laughter rung through the clearing. "Don't think you're victorious for even a second."

Slowly, the Uchiha turned around, watching with horror as Orochimaru melted out of the ground, his body unmarred in any way. He took a step back in caution as Orochimaru smiled in such a manner that his skin felt like it was peeling off of his bones.

"As entertaining as Sakura's fight with me was, it pales in comparison to the one we shared," he said in a silky voice, taking a step forward. "I must admit, I initially had my doubts about you. But as the battle pressed on, you stepped it up; both impressive and admirable. You'll make a nice recipient for my gift."

Hearing that, Sasuke's eyes widened even more. "Shit," he muttered, readying to bolt. Already knowing what the snake freak was hinting at, Sasuke spun the other way and took off as fast as his legs could carry him.

Orochimaru shook his head. Escape was futile; a genin of any level could never hope to outrun an S-class shinobi. He disappeared in a blur, chasing down his game.

_I have to grab Sakura and get out of here!_ Sasuke yelled in panic within his mind. He held a hand to his own neck, not wanting to feel the sensation of one of those freakish seals being put on him like Sakura had. He refused to be branded in any way.

He smiled as he came within sight of Sakura's unconscious form; so far, everything would be okay. At that moment, Orochimaru blurred into existence, standing in between his precious teammate and freedom. Sasuke skidded to a stop and looked at the monster with shock.

"You can't run from me," he told the ebony-haired boy.

Just as Sasuke balanced on the heel of his foot to spin around and dash away, Orochimaru's fingers wrapped around his throat. It had happened faster than he could track; the snake had extended his arm once more, preventing escape or retaliation. Slowly and agonizingly, Orochimaru pulled his prey in.

Out of desperation, Sasuke dug his heels into the ground, trying his best to get away. He attempted to pry the fingers off of his throat, but the harder he tried to escape the tighter Orochimaru would grip him. Finally, when he had gotten close enough, Orochimaru hoisted him into the air, making Sasuke clench his teeth as he stared eye to eye, looking into to eyes that practically belonged to Death itself.

"Soon," Orochimaru hissed, pleased in his capture of what he thought to be the perfect body for his quest, "Sakura and you will come to me, seeking the power that both of desire so much. And I… I, being a generous man, will give it to you."

Sasuke watched in horror as Orochimaru's fangs lengthened and, with a hiss not unlike a snake ready to bite, dug his teeth into his shoulder. White-hot pain suddenly screamed throughout his entire body, and all Sasuke could do was to scream.

As Orochimaru dropped him, the world around him seemed to slow down. In the split-seconds during his fall to the ground, he could feel his body going numb. He wondered if he was dying; truly, he wouldn't have doubted it. He wanted to cry, both for himself and Sakura. Were they going to die?

His head turned as he fell, and as he did, he caught sight of Naruto. If he could, he would have smiled. He had obviously beaten that bitch, and still was able to find him. But, unfortunately, he had come just a second too late.

The blond had watched everything in utter shock. The fingers that held onto a nearby tree for support dug into the bark, his shock clear to all as he watched his teammate fall. He looked on with shock as he watched Sasuke fall to the ground. And his eyes…

Just as he fell unconscious, Sasuke caught a brief glimpse of mirrors surrounded by a circle of the clearest blue.

Kill Joy no Jutsu! (A.K.A. Author's Note): I finally got past that damn writer's block! I swear… this chapter was actually a challenge to write. I scrapped the Shizuka/Naruto fight at least three times because I overpowered one character or the other. On the other hand, the Sasuke/Orochimaru scenes were a breeze, which rather surprised me.

Next up is the fight we've been waiting for! Even I have been antsy to write the next chapter ever since I posted this story. It's the Orochimaru/Naruto fight! I do warn you, though, don't expect anything on the scale of the Four-Tailed Naruto/Orochimaru fight. It's still way too early for such a large scale fight, but I promise a fast-paced, high octane battle that will please. Also, we'll steep just a little bit more into the Kyoukagan's final ability.

Speaking of which, the later half of the story will revolve somewhat around the final ability of the Kyoukagan. Chapter Fifteen, which is still a while away, should hint at what the full ability is. That's right, there's still an air of mystery surrounding the final ability of the Kyoukagan.

I'll be thoroughly enjoying the upcoming chapters, as the Chuunin Exam Arc is one of my absolute favorite scenes to write.

If any of you haven't noticed, I've changed Shizukesa's name to Shizuka; if I can remember correctly, it means 'Peaceful', and is supposedly a popular name for girls in Japan. I don't know; I'd have to ask my beta reader again. If you go back to the other chapters, I went over and switched out her name. I really didn't want to do it, but my beta has been pushing me for a while to change her name.

I understand that some of you don't like Shizuka, but in the upcoming chapters, she'll become a bit more likable. I would also like to remind some of you that she does in fact play a pivotal role in this story.

Also, I would highly suggest you, if you hadn't anyway, go back and read the last chapter, in particular, the scene between Jiraiya and Sarutobi. I had it changed. Jiraiya is still Naruto's grandfather, but Tsunade isn't his grandmother anymore. I did this for a reason; and now I hint at something else, though, the circumstances (if you can guess what they are) are by far more interesting.

As a side-note, the winners of the poles competitions are Naruto: the Mist Leaf (Now called Naruto: Quicksilver) and Naruto: Bleached. I've already posted Quicksilver, which uses Kushina as the Yondaime Mizukage as the basis of the plot; this story has already received mostly positive reviews, and I myself already have high hopes for this one. Naruto: Bleached will take a while to post, but even as I'm typing this, I've already got a pretty decent storyline coming together on this one.

Eventually, I do hope to write a Naruto/Fullmetal Alchemist crossover, as well as Claymore fan-fic or even a D. Gray-Man fic. But these can wait until I have the time, and after I've completed what I've already got on the plate. Four stories are the most I can handle at one time.

That reminds me. The next chapter of Memories of the Nevermore is almost completed. After what seems like an eternity, I finally got over the nasty writer's block and picked up the pen once more. The next chapter is already shaping up to be an awesome one.

Anyways, nothing new to go over in the Original Techniques and Limits. And unfortunately, the final Kyoukagan ability doesn't have enough info for me to go over quite yet.


	14. Lachrymose

**Chapter 14- Lachrymose**

Everything else had faded around him. He could not feel the pain of his fingers digging into the side of the tree. Only his own heartbeat was audible to him as he stared at Sasuke's falling form. Time itself seemed to slow down around him, as though it wanted him to witness what he was seeing in every agonizing, excruciating detail. The sound of Sasuke's body striking the ground seemed to reverberate throughout the entire clearing, like the sound of nearby thunder to Naruto's ears.

Orochimaru sneered wickedly as he stared down at the unconscious Sasuke, quite proud of his new catches. His intention had just been to find the Uchiha, but then Sakura had to come out of nowhere. Her Kinzokuton was a wild card that he wanted for a later time. But for now, they both needed to grow. To lust for power. Once they both had that, then eventually they would seek him out.

"Hm? And just who do we have here, now?" he wondered aloud as another presence registered on his awareness. He turned and the oily smile slipped away as he saw the Uchiha and Haruno's remaining teammate. "Oh, it's just y-"

But his dismissal stopped mid-word as he noticed Naruto's eyes, the silvery Doujutsu, for the first time. Instantly, he was enraptured by the beauty, the pure elegance those eyes gave off. By comparison, the Sharingan was nothing more than an ugly weed to this beautiful rose. Even without being told, Orochimaru knew, to the twisted core of his warped and depraved being, there was no other Bloodline Limit like this one; this was something infinitely rarer.

Those shattered mirrors reflected his likeness; for what seemed like an eternity, the snake Sannin stared into his cracked and distorted image. It was like a snake staring at its own reflection, swaying as it looked at itself, unable to comprehend what it was seeing.

His eyes followed Naruto's as the boy slowly moved over to Sasuke's prone form, not once taking his sight off of those wonderful irises.

Orochimaru wanted those eyes as much as he wanted the Sharingan. After all, he always had a soft spot for Doujutsu.

Naruto stood over Sasuke, arms hung loosely at his side. He didn't know how long he stared at his teammate's face, or why he did in the first place. Why, at that moment, did he suddenly care about his rival's wellbeing? It was weird staring emotionlessly at his anti-thesis and the person so much like him.

"What did you do to Sasuke?" Naruto asked, his voice cold but calm, hands balling into fists.

Orochimaru didn't answer, only continuing to stare enviously at Naruto's eyes.

He could only wonder what they could do. Even then, the ex-Sannin's mind raced with hundreds, thousands of ideas, each more fantastic than the last. Could he be staring at something more powerful than the Sharingan, perhaps? Orochimaru had to know. Even if it had only been a matter of seconds since he had first beheld this wondrous Limit, the suspense was truly agonizing for him.

"Damn it!" Naruto's voice became more biting, and the air suddenly became heavy with chakra and cold air. "Answer me! What did you do to them!"

Orochimaru was finally forced to take his eyes off of the silvery Doujutsu, as the very air around the boy turned cold. Chakra was rising off of Naruto, not only distorting the air at first, but as the seconds ticked by, it became… visible. Like silvery smoke gently rising into the air.

Naruto dropped his sight to the ground, covering his eyes in shadow. Orochimaru blinked, surprised as silver shards fell from his eyes like snow, dissolving into nothingness before they even reached the ground.

Then the snake Sannin took a step back as everything turned violent. The chakra _exploded_ outward as the boy's hair turned into a head-full of metallic silver strands, his whisker marks becoming more defined, looking less like birthmarks and more like scratched metal.

"ANSWER ME!" Naruto roared as he raised his head, a spinning Sharingan with silver pupils set in his eyes, on the background of yet another mirror.

Orochimaru almost leapt backwards in utter shock. In all his years, he had _never_ seen such a thing as this. This couldn't be a true Sharingan. Yet, there it was, spinning like the genuine article.

_I'll kill him!_ Naruto thought menacingly._ I want more! I WANT MORE!_

The chakra turned even more violent then, almost screaming as it tore itself from his body. The air around him snapped and crackled with the cold as the enraged Naruto dug for even more from his infinite reserves, finally turning so cold that frost began to form.

"What… is this?" Orochimaru was awestruck as he raised his hands to shield his face from the sudden, biting chill.

Whatever it was, it was vicious, menacing, and every second that passed that viciousness only increased. The raw emotion flowing within the chakra was sickening. Orochimaru had always claimed that Death was the only thing he feared, but even he could not help but feel threatened by this display. At the same time, he could not remember the last time he had been so… exhilarated. He could feel his blood boiling despite the cold as he waited for a battle sure to eclipse even Sasuke-kun's to begin.

Naruto could feel the raw, biting cold pierce his skin as two pairs of lines appeared over his face. One pair high on his cheekbones; the other at his temples. Liquid silver, almost like his tears, fell from the slits. In one second, a sharp pain pierced his head, and the slits opened wide, revealing a truly grotesque sight: two more sets of eyes had formed.

Across the clearing, Orochimaru narrowed his eyes. This clearly was not an ordinary Limit; he had seen many things, but nothing like this. Could this be…?

The snake-like shinobi's eyes flew wide. The only time he had seen a Limit even remotely like this one had been during his time in Akatsuki. But that was… Could he be witnessing another Transcendent Limit, one of the legendary Three Great Doujutsu?

The shards drifted out of the new eyes, revealing Yamato's coal-black eyes in the set on his temples, and Iruka's brown eyes in the set on his cheeks. In that instant, lightning danced around him, adding to his already impressive display. Silver and actinic-blue clashed and danced together, possibly in the most vibrant display one could ever be host to.

"Not even the Rin'negan…" Orochimaru breathed in awe, standing straight and calm despite the torrent of power that washed over the clearing, making his hair sway behind him. "I could never have hoped to hold such power. But now, it is so close within my reach. Out of everyone to hold such power, I would have never dreamed it was you." His grin was psychotic, insane, as he licked his lips in anticipation. "Uzumaki Naruto, show me this power!"

As if in answer his challenge, all of the lightning around him was suddenly sucked into Naruto's hands. It danced and coiled around them with greater power than any Raiton master could ever hope to command.

Naruto charged forward, a trail of lightning and static in his wake.

Orochimaru flashed through five hand-seals faster than the eye could track. "_Wind Release: Windstorm Arrows!"_

Naruto jumped into the air, his arm of lightning pulled back. Even as he did, his Sharingan automatically copied Orochimaru's jutsu, storing it away for later use.

Orochimaru held out his hand, his other just above it, and chakra charging between them. Wind collected in that same space, sharpening and becoming more violent.

Time seemed to slow for both of them as Orochimaru thrust his hands forward, the jutsu loaded with as much chakra as he could put into it. Naruto likewise channeled every ampere of lighting that he could produce into his right hand. The two attacks met, wind and lighting dancing around the other, as the two fighters struggled for dominance.

-0-

Hinata sat quietly against a tree, hugging her legs as she stared off into space. Shino and Kiba were a short distance away, preparing the campsite they had chosen while she herself used her Byakugan to act as watchwoman.

By nature, she was a nervous person. And in a forest like this, where the possibility of becoming a midday snack for some giant predator was very real, her already frail nerves couldn't help but be ever further on-edge. The first thirty minutes within the forest had been the roughest ever in her short life. The looming threat of another genin team attacking her own was not something that would help her sleep. Hinata just wanted to get out of here.

But at the same time, she wanted to show everybody that she wasn't so weak. She wanted Naruto-kun to see how strong she could be; she wanted to prove to her family she was someone more than they had painted her to be. Maybe… she could even gain her father's approval.

She looked up at the canopy above, as sunlight filtered into long, visible beams through the leaves. Several fell on her face, illuminating her from within the shadows.

Hinata nearly jumped in fright as something passed across her expanse of sight. Nervously she stood up, preparing herself to either defend or run for her teammates' help. Turning towards the spot she saw it, she dropped into a rough _Gentle Fist_ stance.

Staring at what had entered her sight, Hinata dropped her stance and gazed with awe at what she saw: a butterfly nearly the size of a dinner plate that had landed on the trunk of a nearby tree. Its iridescent wings were a crimson of the deepest shade; it looked as if an artist had painted them with a brush dipped in blood.

"That is a beautiful butterfly," a stoic voice said.

Having stayed with her team for a long enough time, Hinata knew what to expect from them. Kiba was brash and loud, even more so than Naruto-kun. Shino was quiet and reserved, yet also showed an unparallel loyalty to his team.

Shino also had a habit of appearing out of nowhere and startling her badly, but Hinata had fortunately gotten use to that.

She turned towards her teammate, and then back to the butterfly with a bright smile.

"Yes, it is," she quietly agreed.

"It's called the Blood-Covered Lady," Shino began to explain. "It's a very rare species, found only in this forest."

"What a sad name to give it," Hinata muttered to herself.

"Indeed, even the legend behind that name is a sad one. It is said that the Blood-Covered Lady used to be a gentle lavender color, but it turned into its present red when a lady forged a deal with the goddess Amaterasu. She pricked her finger, and the drop of blood was said to have stained the butterfly's wings for the rest of eternity."

"Why'd she prick h-her finger?" the Hyuuga asked. Shino was perhaps the last person that she would have expected to be the type for legends.

"The legend claims that she did so to save the life of the one she loved," Shino answered calmly. "Butterflies, and the ephemerality of their existence, are often used as a symbol for the transience of life. However, the story deviates from there. One ending has it that the lady died shortly afterward as the cost for her lover's life; another claims that she eventually found another person to love; while the final version says she lived a happy ending with the person she saved."

Hinata stayed silent as she continued to stare at the butterfly. She never would have thought such a creature would have such a story behind it. Was the story true? If so, it would have been wonderful if the lady had lived with a happy ending; after all, stories needed a happy ending.

The Blood-Covered Lady gently pushed off its perch and slowly, but gracefully, flittered through the air. As it came up to Hinata, it gently hovered near her, tempting the young girl to stick out her hand for it to land on. She obliged, and the butterfly gently landed on her open hands, folding and closing its wings.

It was not often that Shino smiled, but Hinata could see the ghost of one cross his face. Hinata herself sadly smiled, holding such a beautiful tragedy in her hands.

"That's good luck," Shino said.

"Yes," Hinata told him airily, still keeping her eyes on the insect she was holding.

The crimson butterfly gently took off, gracefully spiraling through the air as it went past the canopy. Hinata continued to stare at the spot it had disappeared to, feeling like the luckiest person on the planet.

"We found a protected campsite," Shino told her, interrupting the sudden quiet that fell on the clearing.

Hinata finally turned to him and quickly nodded. Shino turned to leave, and she followed, but she couldn't help but look behind her back to the spot where she had first laid eyes upon the crimson butterfly.

It had been an omen, Hinata knew that much for certain. But was it bad or good? Was she herself to become a blood-covered lady herself? And if she was, who was going to save her?

-0-

Both combatants were blown backwards by the force of the two attacks. Naruto landed some distance, and while Orochimaru had only budged a scant handful of inches, his arm was feeling the effects of several thousand volts of true electricity surging through it.

"You little brat," Orochimaru said amusedly.

Naruto leapt back to his feet, his hands flashing through seals, even as he dashed toward the would-be snake. With the final seal, three _Wood Clones_ burst from of his back and launched into the air, wooden spikes raining down onto their target below.

"Mokuton as well?" Orochimaru muttered in quiet shock.

He easily dodged the assault by jumping backward, the ground he had been standing on skewered by the rain of spears, but the clones were already giving chase as they hit the ground running, yet more wooden weapons launching at the Sannin. Orochimaru leaped out of the way as the real Naruto appeared out of the air above him, another lightning strike to fire. The explosion was dodged, but simultaneously the three wood clones jumped at him. Orochimaru sneered at their presumptuousness, a snake slithering out of his sleeve, and in the next instant, all three of the clones were blasted into splinters.

Orochimaru had to admit he was being pushed when he had thought that he wouldn't be. He was actually having to push his own skills to low jounin level, just to keep ahead of the silver-eyed boy's furious attacks. Without a doubt, Naruto-kun was far from a normal genin. He already knew of the Kyuubi the boy contained, but he had had no clue at all the boy also possessed a Limit such as this.

He immediately halted his pondering as Naruto appeared out of the smoke from behind him, both of his arms pulled backwards and holding a fan of white-glowing kunai each.

In that instant, Orochimaru could see Naruto's eyes had changed again. The pair on his temples had become a stormy blue, while the original now held the Byakugan, and the set on bottom were an eye color he couldn't immediately identify.

"How very interesting," the snake master chuckled to himself, disappearing in a blur as Naruto threw the kunai, pock-marking the area in front of him full of craters.

The blond then yanked out a shuriken and in a split-second shoved the metal full of as much chakra as he possibly could. The throwing star literally swelled with the Howaido Chakra pumped into it, expanding until it reached a size even larger than the average Fuuma shuriken. With the Byakugan guiding him, he threw it to his right, barely missing Orochimaru as the Sannin pushed himself off the tree, the super dense chakra and the trail of destruction that followed it passing harmlessly underneath him by mere fractions of an inch.

Orochimaru came to a landing on all fours, and then only to leap out of the way again as his landing space suddenly sprouted jagged ice, then off of another tree as a sphere of ice exploded against it.

"This is incredible!" Orochimaru shouted in glee.

As he fell in the air, he sent an arm towards Naruto, stretching it out at high speeds. Naruto exchanged his Byakugan for Sharingan and dodge-rolled out of the way of the attack. Orochimaru merely used that failure as leverage to yank himself toward the blond, a viper already out of his sleeve and rearing to bite. Naruto jumped out of the way as Orochimaru impacted the ground with enough force to blast up a cloud of debris.

The blond grabbed hold of a nearby branch and swung himself on top of it. At that second, Orochimaru burst out of the smoke cloud, a blurring image left behind in his wake. He darted up the side of a tree and landed next to Naruto, a punch at the ready. His target barely caught sight of him with his Sharingan and tried to dodge, but was sent flying through the tree nonetheless. Orochimaru leaped through the hole he had made, already delivering another punch into Naruto's gut, but the silver-blond had switched out his Howaido Chakra for the Hyakurai again, retaliating the blow with enough raw electricity to power the Hokage Tower into his enemy.

Orochimaru landed a distance away, his arm numb and sparking as he watched Naruto slam into another tree hard enough to splinter the back.

"Clever little brat," Orochimaru almost complimented, impressed despite himself at the boy's ingenuity.

Naruto pulled himself out of the wreckage of a tree, limping as he stood up and tried to pathetically walk to his opponent. His legs were bent in an awkward position, clearly a sign of broken bones in various places.

"I… I can't lose," the boy muttered. "I… have to stop you for hurting my precious people."

The former Sannin's entertained smile was wiped off his face as he heard a sickening crack come from Naruto. His legs were straightening out and repairing themselves right before his eyes.

Naruto began walking, picking up speed as his legs slowly healed themselves. Finally, with one last snap from his bones, he all out sprinted.

"Faster," Naruto yelled to himself as he closed the large gap between him and Orochimaru. "Faster! FASTER!"

As he saw the oncoming boy, Orochimaru jumped back, smiling creepily with one hand trailing, a snake already slithering out of the sleeve to bite Naruto as he ran towards him. But then suddenly, a spike of chakra launched off of Naruto, and the boy disappeared in a blur and a loud crack. The next instant, Orochimaru turned towards his extended hand with wide eyes as he found it severed at the elbow. Much to his surprise, his arm was completely shredded, almost exploding into hundreds of bloody chunks by what seemed like an invisible opponent.

Looking behind himself, Orochimaru found what happened. Naruto's sandals and the legs of his pants had been completely destroyed, and in their place were his… legs. From Naruto's knees on downward, his legs now vaguely resembled the hind legs of a horse, in that he now had hooves instead of feet, and that the foot bones had elongated until his heels had become like a second reversed knee.

However, the similarity to a horse's legs- or for that matter, the legs of any other creature Orochimaru had ever seen- ended there. While the heel continued on to jut out in a wicked-looking spike, instead of reaching up from that raised ankle to connect straight to his knees, his legs repeated that same grotesque configuration twice more, pointing forward, then back, and then forward again to finally reach his thighs. From the knee itself, however, the flesh had actually forked into three separate pieces, the centerpiece forming the misshapen zigzag, like an obscene Jacob's ladder, while the other two simply stretched down over either side to connect to the middle of his foot bones, partway between his ankles and hooves.

It was a configuration designed for speed, the leverage afforded by the multiple joints intended to propel him at incredible velocities. Every square inch of the surface shown with silvery skin, utterly radiating with silver chakra.

"There's no doubt now," Orochimaru breathed, his eyes alight with cruel desire as he cradled the bloody stump of his arm. "This must be a Transcendent Limit… Just like the Rin'negan…"

Naruto's answer was to disappear. With his one instant, Orochimaru leaped to one side as the base of the tree behind him exploded and toppled over. As the smoke cleared, it revealed Naruto standing over the devastated stump, his face bloodied and body covered in scratches.

"You've gotten faster," Orochimaru observed, jumping up onto a branch. "But what is speed when you still can't control it?"

Naruto's unspoken answer was to flash lightning-fast through the seals his Sharingan had seen Orochimaru perform before. The snake man himself blinked, and then breathed in surprise as wind collected in the silver-blonde's hand; Naruto-kun's Sharingan truly was as real as it could come.

What followed was not the same as Orochimaru's earlier attack, but instead so much more. With his augmented chakra, from Naruto's outstretched hand was launched a great volley, an almost literal wall of arrows of wind chakra. Orochimaru had only enough time to curse before his body was then shredded by the attack. The clone dissolved, no longer able to hold itself together in the face of so much damage as it collapsed into a puddle of mud. But Naruto already knew what his opponent was planning, and leapt an ungodly height into the air, a _Wind Release: Great Breakthrough_ ripping through the earth he had just been standing on.

Naruto landed on a branch and immediately kicked off it as if fired from a cannon, disappearing in a blur of speed and smashing into Orochimaru where he stood, even as the snake Sannin attempted to cast another Ninjutsu one-handed. Orochimaru hurled the boy off, but before he could do anything further, Naruto's form disappeared in yet another burst of speed, reappearing at his opponent's back, his mutated feet doing their job. Lightning flashed quickly within his hand, and hurled it all into Orochimaru, the man screaming aloud with pain. But that was revealed as yet another _Earth Clone,_ as it too dissolved into harmless mud.

Before he could realize his opponent's whereabouts, distracted by the clone in front of him, Naruto found his head suddenly smashed into the ground. Orochimaru pressed down on the boy's head, pinning him to the ground as his foot pressed firmly onto his back. Both his hands and feet were coated liberally with chakra, not wanting to get blasted back again by what he had clearly identified as a Body-Manipulation Limit that centered around bioelectricity

"Incredible… Just incredible," Orochimaru said, smiling to himself. "Your speed is excellent, but even you have to stop if you wish to attack, and if you do keep moving you'll just run into something. That's its weakness. Even your Sharingan can't see at _those_ speeds."

As it was, the only warning he had was the sudden compression of Naruto's chakra before he was suddenly blown several feet into the air by a concussive wave of almost physical chakra. Even before the snake Sannin could crash to the earth, Naruto's form blurred before several sharp spears of ice suddenly pierced Orochimaru's body in multiple places. The silver-eyed boy reappeared in front of him again even as the pain could only begin to register, a kick by one of those grossly deformed legs already aiming for his head. It struck with such force that the ground beneath them while a sickening crunch rang out through the air, signature of breaking bone and a shattered skull.

Naruto landed at the same time as Orochimaru's corpse. He turned towards it, only for his eyes to widen as the misshapen lump of its head smiled at him and the corpse began to glow, and then a massive explosion ripped through the area. Sasuke's makeshift bomb earlier may as well been a _firecracker_ compared to that!

Orochimaru half rose, half slithered out of the ground, sneering as the smoke cleared. That had been a bit more vicious than he had wanted, but this battle had been impressive enough as it was, already. It was difficult to tell just what level Naruto-kun could really fight at. One moment, he could be fighting on the level of a mid-ranked jounin, while others he could be as low as a mere chuunin.

The smoke cleared to reveal a spinning dome of water near the center area of the explosion, like a water version of the Hyuugas' infamous _Heavenly Spin_. Orochimaru grimaced, narrowing his eyes, genuinely no expecting all of these various tricks that the blond clearly had up his sleeve.

Suddenly, the dome ruptured, the water exploding outward in all directions while freezing into hundreds of jagged shards of ice that slashed out over the entire clearing. Orochimaru dropped back down fluidly into the ground, barely avoiding the barrage before any damage could be done.

Naruto panted heavily. He had only barely survived the _Clone Great Explosion,_ not an easy feat considering the technique's considerable radius of damage. It was also only because of that same speed that allowed him to race through the seals for _Ice Release: Ice Shards_. Too bad it had missed the snake-freak, considering the lack of blood to be found in the surrounding devastation.

But then a burning sensation suddenly shot through his entire body, then a piercing pain through his legs and feet. Stifling a scream, he dropped down to his hands. Agony shot through him, and he collapsed to the ground with an aggrieved howl. His body semiconsciously curled itself into a fetal ball, as if trying to hold itself together.

Orochimaru melted cautiously out of a tree, his senses suddenly no longer sensing that violent chakra. He was unsure whether to be relieved or annoyed as he saw Naruto writhing on the ground, and stepped fully out of the tree.

"It seems playtime is finally over," Orochimaru muttered to himself, upset that his fun had been cut short by the apparent weakness of this mystical new Limit. All of that speed and obvious shape changing seemed to place a tremendous strain on the body, and Naruto-kun's tolerance for pain appeared to have finally been reached. "How depressing. And I had been having so much fun, too."

Amidst the pain, Naruto craned his head out to look. Only his original eyes remained on his face; the others melted off of his face to reveal unblemished flesh, even as Orochimaru watched. The irises were shattered, but they would no change into any Limit; they would not even respond to any commands, mental or via his chakra, that he could give them. The silver armor that had encased his legs melted off, the limbs now once again their normal human shape. His hair had faded from metallic silver-white, back to its original blond; his whiskers reassumed their normal, birthmark-like appearance.

Orochimaru shook his head sadly, disappointed as he crouched next to his newest fascination. Naruto feared for his life; not even Zabuza had made him so afraid.

"I would have never guessed," Orochimaru said, as much to himself as to the boy. "I never would have thought _you, _out of all of them, would have had such an incredible gift."

He lifted Naruto up by the throat with his only remaining hand. "Please… Tell me the name of this wonderful Limit of yours, and I will spare your teammates. The Sharingan is no longer of any use to me, not now that I have seen yours, nor is the Kinzokuton girl. They have now become… burdensome. For now, all you need is to tell me the name of your Limit."

Naruto gagged against pressure on his windpipe. If it meant he had to reveal his Limit to this snake-freak in order to save Sasuke and Sakura-chan, then…

"Kyo… Kyoukagan," Naruto choked, his mind starved of oxygen and flashing in and out of unconsciousness.

Orochimaru smiled eerily. "Such a splendid name as well. How very poetic."

He released Naruto, dropping him to the ground as he turned the other way. "I'll spare you of my little seals. I have no intention of spoiling such a magnificent prize; unlike so many others, it is… unnecessary." He stopped and looked over to his shoulder, wearing another one of his twisted smiles. "Eventually, you will come to me, just as Sasuke-kun and Sakura-chan will come to me. I will give you everything you have desired, Naruto-kun."

It would not be the last time that Naruto ever saw the monster. Orochimaru disappeared in a blink, a sinister laughter reverberating throughout the clearing behind him.

Naruto dragged himself painfully to a nearby tree, spasms of pain shooting throughout his body even with the slightest movement. It took all of his will power he could muster not to scream aloud.

His legs, most especially, were by far the worst off; he could barely even feel them through the red-hot agony, much less move them. His head felt like it could split apart at any second, like a stake was being driven slowly through his skull.

Using his arms, which hurt only slightly less than all the rest of him, he managed to pull himself into a leaning position against the tree just before another spasm fired through him, twisting his face in even more pain. Even the pain's passing made him gasp for air, taking it in big gulps, only to be struck almost instantly by another wave. Perhaps Orochimaru killing him might have even been more merciful compared to this!

"Someone… Anyone… Make it stop," he whimpered to himself, a silver tear slipping unnoticed down his face.

Strangely, as soon as he said that, a warm, soothing sensation flowed through his body, calming the pain and bringing him back from the brink of unconsciousness. At the same time, it felt like a hand was gently rubbing the side of his face, as if to comfort him.

Eyes closed as he felt the sensation, Naruto hoped against hope that he was merely hallucinating from the pain. But then he opened his eyes, and regretted it. The Kyuubi stood before him. As usual, she acted as sumptuous as possible, all the while maintaining her air of superiority. She seemed even smugger than usual now, but even if that were the case, there would be now way that she would show it- it was… inelegant to brag.

"How are you?" she asked as she rubbed his face with the back of her hand.

Instinctively, Naruto said the first thing that came to mind, albeit more sleepily than he intended, "What do you want?"

The Kyuubi simply clucked her tongue in response, shaking her head reprovingly. Whatever concernedness that gesture might have displayed, however, was negated by the cunning smile on her face. "Such distrust, Naruto-kun! I'm simply saving your life, that's all. It was I that cut you off from the Kyoukagan during your fight with the man-snake. I believe you would recall that burning sensation you felt, which lasted for only a matter of seconds?"

"Bitch," snapped Naruto, his head lolling to one side, he was so tired and sore.

"I had little choice, otherwise you would have lost yourself completely to the Kyoukagan," she said matter-of-factly, her face softening in false affection. She held Naruto's head gently in her hands, angling his face up to look into her ruby eyes. "Weren't you begging for more power? Didn't you demand for it?"

"I… wanted to save them," Naruto murmured, his eyes half-lidded as he groggily began to realize how hard it was getting to hold onto consciousness right now.

Kyuubi shook her head. She pulled Naruto closer. "I could have given you power. Do you see? This is what happens, the price you pay for flying too close to the light."

She leaned forward and gently kissed him on the forehead. As she pulled back, Naruto could feel a warm sensation running gently through his body.

"Let's talk more in a… better environment," she said.

The idea of going to sleep was so very enticing to the boy, even if he wanted to be absolutely nowhere near Kyuubi. But… he did like the idea of going to see Haku again. With a noticeable amount of reluctance, the Jinchuuriki closed his eyes.

Sleep came faster than he would have liked.

-0-

As he opened his eyes, Naruto could see himself reflected in the familiar mirrored sewer of his mind. The last time he had been here, the place had been much brighter; the mirrors had repaired themselves, and the water had become cleaner and more silvery looking. He remembered liking the sight of a beautiful mind compared to this seemingly rat-infested place. (Although he seriously doubted there actually_ were_ any rats in here. At least he hoped not. The idea of rats inside his own mind was something that Naruto _really_ didn't want to think too deeply into.)

But now, the realm had returned back to its original state of darkness, shattered mirrors, and cloudy water.

Naruto sighed as he stood up, conspicuously free any pain. He trudged slowly through the shin-deep, murky water; the red light at the end of the tunnel guiding him to where he knew Kyuubi's antechamber and prison lay.

The walk somehow seemed shorter than previous times, but that could probably just be because he had been this way before. Stepping carefully into view of the massive chamber, he was nonetheless enveloped by the terrifying ambience of what lay beyond the gilded gate, heightened as it was by a pair of almost glowing crimson eyes, each much larger than Naruto himself, that stared at him from the other side.

"Welcome back, Naruto-kun," a gentle voice greeted.

And there, standing to the side of the enormous cage with a true smile on his face, Naruto found Haku welcoming him. Clad in a kimono as white as the fresh-fallen snow, the dark-haired boy seemed almost to glow against the darkness. From behind the pillar-sized bars, the Kyuubi narrowed her eyes and emerged from the darkness, her forehead pressing against the gilded bars.

"Haku!" Naruto yelled out, grinning wide enough for his face to split into two. "It's so great to see you again! …Even if it was just a half-an hour ago…"

"Yes, it is pleasant," Haku happily agreed.

"Naruto, get away from that boy!" Kyuubi's snarling voice snapped out. Both boys turned to her, Naruto's face a mixture of confusion and anger at the vixen's interruption. Not that said vixen noticed, staring as she was at Haku with anger and almost seething hatred. "He's the reason why you almost lost yourself to the Kyoukagan!"

"What the hell's she complaining about now?" Naruto yelled, rubbing the side of his face in aggravation. He turned to Haku, asking in a more normal tone, "Do you know, Haku?"

But then his expression turned to confusion as the dark-haired boy looked sadly down toward the water below, his hands held almost demurely behind his back.

"Haku?" Naruto tried to ask. "What's wrong?"

Said boy shook his head sadly, clearly trying to fight back tears. "I'm… so sorry, Naruto-kun. I don't want you to lose yourself because of your own power, but if you ask, I can only oblige."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

Kyuubi sneered knowingly, whatever pretenses of civility she had shown before wiped away by her true self. "It's because he is what represents the Kyoukagan here in your mind, brat. If you had continued to use that damnable power of yours, you would have lost it all. Everything! And nobody would have been able to save you."

"What?!"

Kyuubi sighed in aggravation. "Fine. Let me explain it then in a way that your feeble mind can understand. If you had delved any deeper into _that_ power, the result would have been the same as using the higher stages of my own power: your character, your personality would have been replaced by another mind entirely."

"Wait," Naruto interjected. "You mean using the Kyoukagan is like using your own power?!"

Kyuubi nodded haughtily, now that that was out in the open Naruto clearly would be far more cautious in relying on his precious Transcendent Limit. Both blond and fox turned to Haku.

Haku sighed. "The Kyuubi and I… We two are like the two sides of a single coin. One of us might be considered a representation of the light, while the other is representative of the darkness. Constantly, we struggle between on another for the right to be the one to give you our power. I do not want dominance so much as the Kyuubi does, however both of us will give you power only if you ask for it. You are a being of gray, Naruto-kun. A being of the twilight, neither light nor dark. You have the choice, which power to use…" Haku closed his eyes. "But at the same time, you must also choose which cost you must pay in order to use that power."

"Cost?" Naruto asked. "You mean I have to give something up in order to use the Kyoukagan?"

Haku nodded. "Not only the Kyoukagan. The same goes for the Kyuubi's power as well." Kyuubi snorted in derision, but if the two even heard her, they gave no sign. "Do you remember what I had said? The cost for either is quite great."

Naruto narrowed his eyes, not liking where this was going. "What's the cost?"

Kyuubi grinned wickedly as she answered for them. "The price of the Kyoukagan is your human sanity."

"While the price of the Kyuubi's power is your humanity itself," Haku rejoined, eying the Kyuubi's high-and-mightiness with a certain amount of distaste. Its pride so completely deflated by that one statement, the demon turned away in anger and disgust.

Naruto had to look away from either of them as his mind tried to wrap itself around the shock of what he had just heard. His hands tightened into fists, clenching tight as he finally began to realize that no matter which path to power he took, something had to be given up. The world always seemed to be against him, even in this. Just when he had thought he finally had something that could give him the power he had always so desperately grasped for, it had to turn around and bite him in the ass. Was he really so cursed, to forever be so despised and left weak?

"Naruto-kun." The boy looked up at the sadly-smiling Haku. "That is the truly beautiful thing about curses. Even though they may harm you when you use them, at the same time, they can only make you stronger as well."

"But… why can't I get stronger? No matter what I use, it'll only kill me in the end," the blond sniffled, trying his best not to let the frustrated tears flow.

"Not if you use it_ correctly,_ Naruto-kun," Haku replied, a fresh glimmer of hope flashing across Naruto's face with the words. "As I said, you are a being of the twilight; neither light nor dark. You have the power to _choose_. As long as you do not delve too deeply into one or the other half, the other will always be there to rescue you. The Kyuubi saved you this time, did you know?"

"Oh… yeah," Naruto grumbled as he turned to find Kyuubi looking at him expectantly. He remembered now what she had said before he had fallen asleep, about how she cut him off from the Kyoukagan during his fight. Never had he pegged the vixen to be someone who actually cared about his well-being!

_That's right. Continue to be delusional and think I actually care for you,_ Kyuubi mused to herself. It took every shred of willpower she possessed not to let triumph show on her vulpine face. _It only means that I am a step closer to finally escaping this wretched prison. And then… I will finally have my revenge against that fool Madara, and Konoha as well!_

With great reluctance, Naruto finally spoke, "I suppose I should thank you." The expression on his face was as if something excruciatingly foul-smelling had just been passed underneath his nose.

"I had been hoping for something more polite," the enormous vixen stated primly, clearly intending to milk her place on the moral high ground this time for all it was worth. "But I suppose that will have to do. For the moment, anyway."

"Why don't you just appreciate that I actually complimented you for once?" Naruto snapped back. "Or did one of your tails happen to get stuck up your ass?"

Kyuubi's eye turned a dangerous look upon him, the slitted pupil and blood-red iris giving off an almost incandescent glow. If looks could truly kill, under that glare a lesser being would have been instantly reduced to nothing more or less than a steaming pile of shredded meat. However, Naruto was indeed anything _but_ lesser.

With an arrogant huff, Kyuubi disdainfully turned the other way. Naruto smirked; point to him. So far, he was managing to eke out a narrow win against the Kyuubi in witty comebacks.

"Naruto-kun," Haku spoke. The whiskered boy turned his attention away from harassing Kyuubi in order to listen to his dead friend. "I hate to admit so, but indeed must use Kyuubi-sama's power from time to time."

"What did you say?!" Naruto quickly yelled, wondering if Haku must have used drugs back when he was alive. Almost as if he were read the blond's mind, Haku shook his head negative.

"Ah, yes!" Kyuubi smirked, returning her attention back to the two outside of her cage. "This brings us back to our next point. During your battle with the man-snake, you were on the verge of unlocking the higher echelons of power that your Kyoukagan offers." She sighed.

Naruto blinked, turning his full attention onto the giant vixen, his interest unusually piqued by her words.

"Because of the state of your mind you had descended into by such usage of the Kyoukagan," she continued, "I was forced to inject some of my own chakra into your coils, in order to prevent you from being lost to it. Unfortunately, this caused severe damage to your chakra coils; like throwing water onto a sizzling hot pan of oil, the two chakras, the Kyoukagan's and mine, cancelled each other out violently. Although the Kyoukagan caused much more damage to your body overall in the end…" she added, almost as an after thought.

"What are you getting at?" the cursed boy questioned, his face an expression of cold seriousness.

"It means that your coils were caused enough damage that an ordinary shinobi would be put out of commission for a considerably long time. Months, at the minimum, if not whole years." Kyuubi shook her vulpine head in annoyance, beginning to tire of explaining something as asinine as this. "But thankfully, you are _not_ normal. My chakra can heal the coils in less than a day. The catch is, however, that you have to use it."

"So, I have to use your chakra?" Naruto repeated, making the demon look towards him. "What happens if I don't?"

"Simple," she answered, laying down on her haunches as if bored. "It would take weeks for your body to recover if you don't. But then there's also the threat of not fully recovering."

"That is where the Kyuubi comes in," Haku interjected, earning him a stern glare from the demon vixen for his disrespect. "She would be able to heal the damage that I caused."

"You didn't…" Naruto hurriedly tried to comfort, but Haku shook his head firmly.

"Do you remember?" he gently asked. "I am what represents the Kyoukagan within you. It is indeed my fault, Naruto-kun."

Naruto couldn't help but tear his gaze away from Haku toward the water he was standing in. He honestly didn't know what to say to that.

Unlike so many others, his whole life was now being driven by the choices he was making. It was a crash course on trade-offs and compromise of the worst sort. He couldn't help but wish he was normal like everyone else, where he never had to worry about his own decisions backfiring on him, very possibly harm to him and to everyone else.

But before anything else now, he had to survive. The choice now was to give up one thing in exchange for another, all for the sake of saving Sasuke and Sakura-chan.

Numbly he walked over the Kyuubi, much to the vixen's delight. A victorious smirk wanted to steal over her face, but she kept it reined in for the threat of scaring off the boy. Finally, after so much poking and prodding at him, now it was finally her turn to press her influence upon him.

His gait seemed almost submissive as he stepped next to the entrance to the cage, a silver tear slipping free to fall along the side of his face. He was doing exactly what she wanted, and it only tore at him the more he thought about it.

"So what's going to happen now?" he asked, pausing within a foot of her cage.

Even though she did not show it, Kyuubi's aggravation shot up high enough that if that fool Shukaku were to be nearby, she would have gleefully choked the incompetent tanuki until its head popped off like a stuffed animal. _Too damned long_ had she waited to gift Naruto with her power, and now the little shit had stopped within a foot of her cage! It was like dangling a fish in between a cat's eyes and watching it go cross-eyed! It was humiliating!

But when she spoke, the Kyuubi's voice held none of the antagonism that it always leaked, even though she wanted nothing more than to throw a bitingly sarcastic comment at him. "You are going to lose your ability to use the Kyoukagan for a time. Unleashed as it was, it was causing you significant damage, and the fastest way that I can heal you is to suppress it for now."

"There goes all of my power," Naruto muttered, wiping away the tears on his cheeks with the sleeve of his jacket.

Kyuubi snorted, offended by those words. "My power, brat, has an arsenal of abilities as numerous as the Kyoukagan's. Don't assume I am going to leave you with nothing at all." She paused as she remembered one last thing, "Keep in mind, however, that as long as my chakra runs through your coils more heavier than usual, the color of your eyes will be different. At least you won't have to wear those damned goggles."

Naruto perked up at that briefly, then his face fell again. He turned back to Haku, pulling out the gentle boy's goggles, shards and all. Haku didn't recognize what he was seeing at first, as Naruto held them out, but after a second, realization dawned on him.

"I'm sorry. They were broken in my last fight with Shizuka." Naruto gingerly fingered the one unbroken lens. "I didn't mean… I wasn't… I didn't want them to get broken."

"It's alright," Haku told him softly, smiling again out of sheer amusement. "They served me well when I served under Zabuza-san. I'm only glad that they've been just as useful to you as they have been to me."

"I'll make sure they get fixed." The blond clenched the broken eyewear in his hand, before returning them carefully to his pocket. His smile- his true smile- slowly began to shine upon his face again. "I promise."

Haku nodded, his smile becoming even more graceful and warm. It made him feel warmhearted knowing Naruto-kun would keep his word, just as he always did. Even after his own death, the blond still thought of him.

That one picture of Naruto looking at him with his true smile revealed so much about his spirit. The beauty of Naruto's soul shamed the moon and even the stars; every flower would seem wilted, compared to his heart. Without a doubt, his soul was purer than even Haku's. Perhaps that was why he was caught in the gray, between the light and the darkness, able to choose but never be tainted by either.

Naruto turned back to Kyuubi, the fox now in her human form and tapping her foot impatiently. Faint ripples spread out on the water she stood on with every tap of her foot.

"Stop taking your sweet time!" she chastised. She had waited _far_ too long for this! If she was forced to wait any longer, she was sure she would likely begin rip her hair out.

"Sorry," Naruto groused, grimacing at her impatience. "Aren't we a little moody today?" A light then seemed to light up between his eyes. A light that Umino Iruka both knew and dreaded, as it signified that Naruto had just discovered a new and horrible way to prank something. "Don't tell me you're…" he mocked gasped, "PMS-ing?!"

Okay, as far as pranks went, that one had been rather tame. But all the same, a deep blush as red as her hair shot over her entire face, both out of embarrassment and of anger (though more of the latter than the former). "You little brat!" she hissed. "Now get over here before I lose my temper!"

Naruto gulped as he all but teleported the last foot of distance between them. He stood there ramrod-straight, and Kyuubi slowly and carefully raised her right hand through the bars. His breath quickened as the pads of her fingers touched his cheeks gently, a warm sensation beginning to spread throughout his body. He could feel the raw, burning chakra moving through her fingertips and into his coils, but it was so mild compared to the two times he had used it before.

His breath caught in his throat as emotions foreign to him suddenly sprang up in his being: a love that he never tasted as he had grown up under the villagers' hateful gazes, happiness and unbridled joy, accomplishment, and want and a sense of true belonging, a place where he knew he was always welcome. But then he looked into Kyuubi's seemingly calm face, and he knew that she was only adding those feelings into the mix, to make him want to come back for more. That did not stop the feelings from being as addictive as any drug, however.

Kyuubi smiled slyly as she saw Naruto relax. She had snagged him as well as any fish on a baited hook. If anyone were to ask, she would admit, freely and gladly, that she was a manipulative bitch. But what could she do? He had to stay away from that damnable Limit of his; otherwise, she would never be able to exert control on him. But if things continued like this, eventually she might even be able to convince him to release her. Even he was nowhere near foolish enough, yet, but perhaps someday…

A tear slid down Naruto's face, not silver but a warm tear that he hadn't cried since the battle with Haku. She was so cruel, to make him agonize over these emotions he was like this. He wanted to delve even more into her intoxicating power, to feel more of these emotions he had always wished he could taste. But the memory of his precious people waiting for him was enough to bring him back to reality: he stood in the presence of one of the most evil beings in existence, and she would do anything,_ anything_ in order to get her way.

He took a step back, away from the Kyuubi's touch and the emotions he had always wished for so desperately. When he opened his now crimson eyes with dark pupils, utter loathing permeated them, even though his face betrayed any emotion.

"Don't you remember what I told you?" she said, slowly sticking her hand through the bars again.

He didn't resist as she tenderly grabbed his hand, clenching his eyes shut in an attempt to block out more tears as those forbidden emotions raced through his body. No chakra channeled through her hand, but Naruto somehow already knew she had already given him enough to heal.

"I know you even more deeply than you know yourself," she told him softly. "None of your so-called precious people can ever know you as intimately as I do. I can give everything you have ever wanted. Don't deny yourself, Naruto. Don't deny _me_."

Her hand retracted back into the cage, leaving Naruto by himself. He shivered at the sudden cold that greeted his hand, longing for the warmth Kyuubi had taken with her.

Face unreadable, Kyuubi turned and began to walk back into the depths of her cage.

Out of instinct, Naruto jumped forward, "WAIT!" only to run into an invisible barrier in between the golden bars. He struggled, pushed against it, trying desperately to break through, every movement he made causing ripples to spread out against the barrier's transparent surface.

As if that somehow managed to draw her interest, Kyuubi glanced over her shoulder to the boy pressing himself against the shield. His wanting eyes locked with hers, begging, pleading for more, but she merely turned and vanished in the shadowy darkness.

Naruto's eyes widened, his strength seeming to just leave his body as she disappeared. He collapsed to his knees with a splash, the water lapped at his legs and feet.

Realization after realization struck at him. He had lost. The Kyuubi had won this time; he had danced happily right into her trap, and into her hand. All she had needed, all that she had ever needed was only a mere inch of leverage, and she had taken full advantage of it all. She had screwed with his emotions, and he had let her. It was so addicting, so sweet, even now; what he wouldn't give, just to feel those feelings one more time.

The world around him lurched and twisted sideways: a sign of consciousness returning to him. He paid no heed, however; he was just too broken to care. Even as he blinked his eyes open in the real world, he was in the same position: down on his knees, staring straight ahead but looking at nothing. All around him was the torn and battered landscape from his fight with Orochimaru, and the unconscious forms of his teammates.

Roaring out his frustration, his rage and hatred of his own helplessness, Naruto slammed his fist into the ground beneath him. Augmented by the crimson chakra surging through him, the earth buckled, unable to absorb the blow as it gave way, cratering. Then he broke out into quiet sobbing, warm wet tears running down his face, filled with all the raw emotions he felt.

After what felt like an eternity, Naruto choked back on his tears, hugging himself as he shivered. He couldn't think straight; anytime he tried to return to the present, those feelings just kept flooding back to him.

Kyuubi… Never had he thought anything, any living thing could be so cruel. She had no compassion, no decency, no honor. Just herself, and her selfish goals.

With the last dregs of his strength, Naruto crawled over to a nearby tree, leaning against it as fresh tears rolled down his face. He was so tired. Emotionally, physically, mentally, he just felt drained. His body no longer ached, but his heart felt as though a knife had been driven through it.

He didn't care if someone came and killed him right now. He just wanted to sleep. To escape it all. And with that, Uzumaki Naruto, closed his eyes and fell to sleep.

Kill Joy no Jutsu (A.K.A. Author's Note): Well, here's the next chapter of Shattered Eyes. It's not my longest, but the short amount of action offered was extreme, and the character development was pretty darn good, if I do say so myself.

This was one of those more emotional moments, especially for Naruto. Without a doubt, having his emotions screwed with was possibly the cruelest thing that could have happened to him. Kyuubi is a bitch- make absolutely no mistake. There is a reason why a Kyuubi/Naruto pairing is nigh impossible for this story.

That's right, Naruto has lost the Kyoukagan for a short time, but in its place is Kyuubi's chakra. If you don't know, there's enough chakra there that his eye color is crimson, but not enough that his eyes are slitted.

Next chapter won't be the Sound Team/Naruto fight, but it will involve even more character development, and the copying of a new Bloodline Limit. But as to what that is, I won't tell you. I can only say is that you all will like it. It should also be much longer than this chapter, so it might be a while before we see it. As a matter of fact, scratch that; the next chapter is going to be incredibly long, and therefore won't be coming out for a long while. Oh, I almost forgot to mention. We're going to possibly see an Iruka/Orochimaru fight. Wouldn't you pay to see that? At least it would make it worth the wait.

Originally, this chapter was supposed to come out on Thanksgiving weekend. Well, that got screwed to high hell! Ended up that the corrections took a while, and it took me a couple of days just to go through and fix everything after my beta reader sent the chapter back to me.

One of the major changes that pushed the release of the chapter was the addition of Naruto's legs and their new look. My beta suggested something a bit more inhuman as my last set, which only involved the feet, was much more conservative and not nearly as intimidating. I obliged and my beta reader wrote up the scene as he was correcting the story. If you have ever read Claymore, or watched the anime, then those legs should look familiar; it's my beta reader's homage to Claymore. But no, this isn't a crossover (just saying this so nobody gets the wrong idea), just paying homage to a manga that we both really like.

The good news is that we have an original move!

Original Techniques:

Fuuton: Boufuuya (Wind Release: Windstorm Arrows)- Ninjutsu- Low B-Rank- An elemental wind jutsu; it's the perfect move for a person with said elemental alignment. Originally created for the purpose of wind manipulation, any other user is likely to lower the jutsu's effectiveness. It creates a loose ball of wind in the palm of a user's hand (not to be confused with the Rasengan which uses a lot more chakra, control, and power), and when the required amount of power has been reached, the user can fire small blades of wind only the size of a washer. Despite their size, they're incredibly sharp; and the key of the jutsu is to unleash several arrows at one time. Skilled users can maintain the wind, and fire arrows whenever necessary.


	15. Teardrop on Fire

**Chapter 15- Teardrop On Fire**

Anko moved swiftly through the trees with a speed only a trained jōnin could attain. Everything blurred around her. Her lungs felt as if they were on fire, and her legs protested with each step she took. But she pushed on, knowing her little brother's safety was up in the air.

The moment she had entered the forest she had run nonstop, tracking every trail her snakes pointed out for her. Her bastard of an ex-sensei was back in town, and she needed to stop him before he found Naruto. If he were to even get the idea that Naruto owned an all-powerful Bloodline Limit capable of creating and copying other Limits… Anko didn't even want to think of the implications.

She stopped as the scent of ozone filled the air. A flash of lightning hit the tree just ahead of her, and when the light faded, she could see Iruka standing there, static electricity dancing around his body.

Anko smiled. Iruka was an S-class fighter; now they had at least a chance against Orochimaru.

"Where is Orochimaru?" Iruka asked curtly. Anko noted the uncharacteristic anger in his voice – probably why his control over his Limit was slipping.

"Follow me!" she shouted, jumping past him and dashing off.

Iruka was quick to follow, keeping pace easily with the jōnin. He ran alongside her, looking ahead for his target. With his bioelectric control, he began sensing for any living things within a mile's radius. The snake might be able to hide from his once and former student, but a literal human lightning bolt pissed beyond all belief was another story entirely.

Immediately, he had several signatures – recognizable as human, by the patterns he could sense – but scratched them as not their target; all of them had the feel of common genin. Coming up on a particularly empty part of the forest, he could sense two signatures. One with enough power to be on par with Hatake Kakashi, and the other wasn't even comparable.

"Found him!" Iruka shouted.

Anko dismissed her snakes and followed her crush. Compared to her snakes, Iruka might as well be a bloodhound on steroids; how else like him manage could someone to find Naruto after a prank?

-0-

Kabuto watched as his master paced the tree branch he stood on, a noticeable oily leer plastered on the snake-man's face. He had both arms once more, having regenerated after his battle with Naruto-kun. The silver-haired ninja found himself smirking. After today's events, how could they not rejoice?

Sasuke's use to Orochimaru was phenomenal. The Sharingan would allow the snake-master to copy jutsu at unheard-of speeds, not to mention make his enemies quiver in fear at the sight of the spinning, blood-red eyes.

But Naruto… the word did not even exist to describe how useful he would be. Not only the Sharingan, but every Bloodline Limit in existence! Byakugan, Mokuton, Jikiton, Sharingan… There truly were no limits!

Orochimaru stopped his pacing with a thoughtful look. "Perhaps I should have given him my seal after all."

"Why didn't you?" Kabuto blinked. His master _hadn't_ marked the boy? Why would that be?

The Snake Sannin took a moment to collect his thoughts, before explaining. "Like that damnable Rinnegan before it, Naruto-kun is in possession of a Transcendent Limit. I genuinely do not know how his body would have reacted to the presence of my Mark, and with the risks already inherent in receiving one… No, Naruto-kun has become far too valuable to my plans to risk needlessly, especially so brazenly as that."

"What of the Uchiha and Haruno?" Having taken the Kyoukagan as a new target, Kabuto could not help but wonder about his lord's plans for the two.

The traitor Sannin considered for another moment before replying. "They still have their uses. Otogakure still has a place for them, but for now, we'll concentrate our efforts on Naruto-kun.

"Kabuto… I'll need you to infiltrate the Hokage Tower. Find me every last scrap of information you can on this… Kyoukagan."

"Of course, Orochimaru-sama," Kabuto obeyed, his glasses glinting ominously in the dim light.

The scent of ozone suddenly assaulted Orochimaru's nose. Above him, a storm picked up, clouds darkening and bellowing as the winds rustled the leaves. Looking up, he could feel the incredibly trace amounts of chakra in the lightning that flashed through the sky. Yet it was so minute that he could only barely sense it at all. Whoever this was that seemed to believe he was actually hunting him – him, the greatest of the Sannin! – was clearly incredibly skilled at Raiton techniques, to be using natural lightning with so little chakra spent.

He looked off in a particular direction, wondering who it might be. Anko had had no talent for Raiton jutsu; clearly it could not be her. An Inuzuka was out of the question – they hunted by scent, and he had made sure to thoroughly scatter his trail, partly because he knew his former student had access to various snakes with tracking capabilities.

Whoever this was, however, clearly must be a strong opponent. Being able to use natural lightning in combat was a difficult feat, one that had even escaped Orochimaru himself. But there was one way…

"Kabuto," Orochimaru said. "Now would be a good time for you to take your leave."

His subordinate nodded once, before vanishing in a spray of leaves. His master was about to enter another fight, and though he was, without a doubt, one of the strongest, the man was still slightly weakened from his fight with Naruto-kun. Whoever it was that wanted to fight him, clearly had no idea of what he was about to get into.

Orochimaru spun, as a lightning bolt struck the branch next to him. As the flash cleared, it revealed a chūnin (from what he determined from the garb) hanging off the side of the struck tree, holding onto the side with chakra. The snake-man could see the scar running across the bridge of the newcomer's nose, but moving to his eyes, they glowed from the sheer amount of electricity running through the man's body, waiting to burst forth with the force of a thousand thunderstorms.

Another figure jumped out of the treetops: his former student, Anko. And if looks could kill, Orochimaru knew he would be instantly reduced to nothing but a smear on the tree bark.

Orochimaru chuckled. "My lovely student, how long has it been?"

"Not long enough," Anko snarled, a kunai gripped tightly in each hand.

She readied herself to attack, but was stopped short as Iruka's voice pierced the air. "Don't. I'll fight him."

"But…" she protested.

"You're strong, Anko," Iruka told her, "but for this battle, I'm going all-out. I need space. I don't want you getting caught up in my attacks."

"But… I…" she tried to say, only for the words to die in her throat. She wanted so much to fight this man, to make him pay for every sin he had ever committed against her. Then again, there was Iruka, an average-looking chūnin who just so happened to possess a nearly extinct Bloodline Limit.

Iruka turned towards her with promising eyes. Anko could see his own want to make this man pay, but his heart… She could now see why he wanted her to stay out of this battle; besides getting caught up in their large scale attacks, her anger would make her careless. He wasn't out for revenge; he was here to defend the village and to protect Naruto.

Reluctantly, she nodded.

Iruka jumped to a nearby branch. While in the air, he threw up a scroll, and as he landed, he snatched it with an outstretched arm. Drawing blood, he used his other hand to unfurl the scroll, wiping the blood on his thumb across it. Throwing the scroll into the air, it exploded, and out of the smoke came a pair of meter-long metal rods. Iruka outstretched both his hands and caught them both at the bottom.

Across the gap, Orochimaru watched with interest. At the sight his opponent drawing a pair of weapons, Orochimaru had a snake slide out of his mouth. No sooner did the hilt of the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi appear out of the snake's mouth. The fell katana fell into the traitor's hand as the snake receded back into his mouth.

"How interesting," Orochimaru observed. "I suppose I am about to witness the legendary Hyakurai in action, then?"

Iruka made no motion.

The snake went on, "I do find it interesting that the most feared Bloodline Limit of Kirigakure is to be found in Konoha, of all places. Supposedly, the Hyakurai had been wiped out by the Fourth Mizukage himself during the Bloodline Purges . I assume, then, that you are the lone survivor of your clan."

The academy teacher snorted. "Indeed. I am the only living person who can use the Hyakurai."

Orochimaru's laugh sent a shiver up both Iruka and Anko's spine. "Oh? Are you so sure about that? What of Naruto-kun? Surely, you must be teaching him _something_…"

Both of the Konoha ninjas' breath caught in their throats. They were too late.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO HIM!?" Anko roared.

"Nothing," Orochimaru truthfully told them. "Why would I want to ruin perfection? There was nothing for me to do. All that is needed is for him to grow stronger, but that will come in time. Already, he shows so much promise."

Orochimaru licked his lips, his golden eyes eerily shining in the dark. "I have never seen such a magnificent Bloodline Limit. Soon enough, Naruto-kun will belong to me."

"I'll kill you before that happens!" Iruka shouted.

Faster than the eye could track, Iruka raised a rod and sent a lightning bolt at the tree Orochimaru stood on. Just as the electricity gathered at the weapon's tip, the snake jumped out of the way as the branch was instantly turned into countless splinters. Iruka jumped onto the side of a tree and then pushed off, adding chakra for speed. As Orochimaru reached the peak of his jump, Iruka greeted him in the air. In one split second, Iruka pulled back on his rod, beginning to charge it with enough electricity to power all of Konoha. Faster than the human eye could track, the rod connected with Orochimaru's body. Before the former Sannin could even look surprised, the area lit up with a flash of lightning with the two combatants at the center, the massive amounts of electricity easily frying all of the snake's insides.

"_Raisen no Jutsu!_" Iruka announced as he landed lithely on a branch.

He turned to look at the body, only to find it glowing as it fell through the air. On instinct – and with a curse – Iruka threw the rods high into the air and held out both of his hands. The boom then issued through the area, taking trees and debris with it in an explosion stronger than any exploding tag.

Orochimaru landed on a branch across the clearing, his head shifting as he looked for his opponent. On time, the smoke cleared to reveal Iruka, surrounded protectively by a translucent shield. The danger past, Iruka dropped his _Raiton: Raijinheki_ and caught the rods as they fell back to the earth.

Orochimaru scoffed. If this person was really a mere chūnin, then Jiraiya was a eunuch.

This battle was fun, but – as Orochimaru noted before Hell had broken loose, – his reserves were still depleted from his battle with Naruto-kun. Of course, that simply meant he couldn't use some of his best techniques; otherwise, he would have ended this before it even began.

Iruka, having used that moment to determine how much power to use, unleashed every ounce of amperage he held with his body. Actinic blue-white danced around him in a chaotic, but graceful, dance, gouging into the sides of trees and arcing between the medal rods he held in both hands.

Suddenly, the energy changed color, turning a deep, electric blue.

The academy teacher found himself smirking. Blue lightning was many times more powerful than regular electricity. As a descendent of his clan grew, so too did the power in their body. Young children always had the weakest capacitance; adults, fresh out of puberty, had a tendency to have the highest reserves. Very rarely among his clan, certain members had such large bioelectric capacities that their bodies began to compress it, thus creating the far stronger blue lightning.

Unfortunately for Naruto, it would still be a few years before he could begin learning the really high-level abilities that the older members of his clan had been capable of.

Anko's mouth dropped. She had been Naruto when the boy had released his full power. But seeing Iruka in that same state… There was just no comparison between the two. The differences in power and experience seemed like a vast ocean. It was something she would have to talk to Iruka about, but for now, she ogled him.

-0-

"Kakashi," an aged voice said, bringing the man back to reality.

"Sorry, I guess I'm kind of out of it today," he sheepishly voiced back, rubbing the back of his head.

The aged Hokage shook his head. With his battle-hardened fingers, he poured tea into the former ANBU captain's cup. He knew the man wanted nothing more than to be at a bar with his fellow jōnin teachers – Tenzō, Asuma, Kurenai, and Gai – drowning out his worries.

Today, Sarutobi thought it appropriate that he invite Kakashi over for some tea. He also just wanted to have a chat with the man, to learn more about Team Seven's rapid growth in strength.

Sarutobi sipped his tea. "It's alright," he said as he placed his cup down demurely. "Your team is in a rough situation. Look at this way, however: they are quite possibly one of the strongest teams in the exams. Not many teams can claim each of their members as possessing a Bloodline Limit, much less someone capable of using multiple others."

Kakashi eye-smiled, "You do have a point there," then returned to seriousness. "Still, I worry about them, especially Naruto. I wonder if I made the right decision."

"This will only help them grow. It was a good choice." Sarutobi took another sip. "All three of them were trained well. Even Sakura-chan's growth rate is amazing. Tenzō has been teaching her well."

"Yes, he has," Kakashi agreed offhandedly, sipping his own tea before Sarutobi could notice that his mask was down.

"Sasuke, too, has also seen an impressive jump in abilities. I knew having him taught under the legendary Copy-Cat Kakashi was a wise choice."

Kakashi blushed from the praise, though his mask hid it.

"And Naruto-kun…" Sarutobi's face graced itself with a smile. "Even I never knew he held so much potential. Going from dead-last to the strongest of his generation; I suppose that is just Naruto-kun for you. He is, after all, the number one most surprising ninja in Konoha." Kakashi chuckled at the nickname he had given Naruto. "Iruka, Anko, Tenzō, yourself… All of you are bringing up one fine genin."

The conversation seemed to enter a lull at that point. Kakashi poured himself another cup before passing the teapot to his commander-in-general, who himself poured a cup as well.

Now that Kakashi thought about it, there was one question that bothered him.

The scarecrow looked up from his cup. "How strong is Iruka?"

Sarutobi finished his sip. "In all honesty, I don't know."

Kakashi blinked. He hadn't expected that as an answer. "Do you have an idea?"

Sarutobi took a second to think about it. "When I was deciding who would be the next ANBU commander several names popped up. Yours, Gai-kun's," Kakashi winced, "and Iruka-kun's were among the list I had created of possible candidates."

The Sandaime paused, watching as Kakashi digested what he heard. For the Copy-Cat, to hear Iruka had been a choice candidate for ANBU commander was quite the shock. He honestly couldn't imagine someone like Iruka as the one to hold a job like that.

But then, he couldn't see Gai in the position, either. The horrors… That was another thought for another time.

"Of the names, my first choice had been Iruka," Sarutobi went on, sighing and shaking his head. "I pestered him about it for a while, but each time, he would say he loved teaching more than anything."

Kakashi chuckled. "I'll bet Naruto changed _that_ view."

Sarutobi shook his head again. "My grandson is beginning to act the same way. I fear for the teachers each time he sets foot into the school. If not for the Hyakurai's sensing capabilities, I suspect things might be much worse. Of course, unlike Naruto-kun, Konohamaru was never quite desperate enough to escape into the sewers."

Both men shared a laugh at that. They calmed down after a moment and poured more tea.

Sarutobi liked these little sessions he had with various jōnin – more commonly Kakashi and Iruka nowadays, mainly for information on their students. They were always relaxing. Not to mention a cheap escape from paperwork.

Sarutobi frowned. "But in all seriousness, I suppose I would have to rank Iruka-kun as on the verge of mid S-class. He has been called the next Senju Tobirama for all his skill in elemental manipulation."

Kakashi let out a low whistle. He had known Iruka was strong, but _that_ strong? It was insane! He had never seen Iruka at full power, but if what Sarutobi said was correct, Iruka was easily one of the strongest in the village.

The threat of having his face melted off suddenly became much more real. At first, he'd thought Iruka hadn't had the balls to do it, being too kind to stoop to such a thing. But now that he thought about it, the threat must have been used before.

Seeing the copy-cat sink into his seat with a frightful look, Sarutobi raised an eyebrow. "Something wrong?"

"Bad memories," Kakashi admitted as he brought the cup up to his mouth.

"Ah, yes," Sarutobi nodded sagely. "He must have used that 'face-melting' threat of his on you. I must say, it was quite intimidating for me too."

Kakashi choked on his tea.

-0-

Orochimaru smeared a line of blood along his forearm and then slapped the palm against the ground, summoning forth a snake with multiple heads. The snake master himself jumped atop the highest, relishing the thought of a battle this intense – it had been so very long since he had fought such a strong opponent.

Each of the snake's heads lunged at Iruka, hissing, however the teacher himself didn't bat a eyelash. One rod raised above his head, the other pointed at the nearest oncoming head, instantly a lightning bolt struck down out of the sky, striking the upright weapon and channeled through the other, punching a hole straight through the snake's head. The other three hissed briefly in pain, trashing about, before attacking again as one in rage.

One head tried to flank him, coming from the side with its mouth wide open, but Iruka simply leapt aside, slamming a rod deep into its skull. The head hissed in pain, rearing back as its fellow followed snapped at him from above; Iruka dodged nimbly, shoving his other weapon into the roof of its mouth.

The third, however, having dug its head underground, managed to catch Iruka off guard, the impact hurling the man into the air. Salivating with anticipation, the snake head dove forth, maw open in full preparation to devour him. Iruka, however, merely smirked as he hurled a kunai at the space in between its two nostrils, followed by a bolt of lightning into its open mouth; the hiss of pain sounded strange, muted as the jaws slammed shut in reflex.

Landing, Iruka turned, watching as the three heads converged, rearing up in anger. Smirking, the chūnin formed a single hand-seal. In an instant, lightning from the clouds overhead lanced downward, striking all three metal points on the snakes' heads simultaneously. The massive summon vanished in a puff of smoke.

"Interesting," Orochimaru's voice echoed eerily from around the clearing. "That storm cloud must of course be a product of your own jutsu, I suspect."

Iruka's head swiveled as he sensed for his target, trying to seek out the man's bioelectricity. He could sense the electric current in Anko's body; he didn't have to look to know she was chewing her nails in apprehension.

In truth, the cloud had been created by a jutsu. Before he had come to the forest, knowing a battle with the snake Sannin was likely going to unfold, Iruka formed cumulonimbus clouds with a large fire jutsu he knew. To a human generator of his type, the cloud augmented his abilities on a much larger scale. In the middle of a battle, though, it was painstakingly difficult to do, at least not without getting tagged by an enemy.

"Is there a problem with it?" Iruka answered back. He needed the bastard to keep talking; he was getting a general idea of where he was.

Orochimaru chuckled. "Of course not; it has been a long time since I've had such fun. Strong opponents are, after all, few and far between."

"Being on top of the world can do that to you," Iruka continued. _There!_

Orochimaru's bioelectricity was rapidly coming toward him from underground in an attack. Iruka smirked as he quickly slapped his hands to the ground.

"_Raiton: Kanmai no Jutsu!"_ he shouted.

Electricity swam across the ground, coiling and cracking as it gouged it and channeled enough to affect the approximate area. Amidst the dazzling display of electric blue, Orochimaru shot out of the ground, avoiding electrocution.

In retaliation, the missing-nin swept Kusanagi outward, the blade extending almost instantly. Iruka hopped backwards, avoiding the gouge carved into the earth in front of him. Faster than the blink of an eye, he bent his legs backwards while performing a single hand seal, barely missing the swipe of the long blade. Touching the ground as he bent backwards, Iruka sent a spinning torrent of electricity surging through the ground towards Orochimaru. The snake master leapt to avoid it, but was met in midair with another_ Raisen no Jutsu_. The massive surge sent the traitor backwards through the air, crashing through several trees in the process.

Orochimaru's appeared out of the wreckage, limbs broken and flesh burned. But with a quick release of chakra, a new Orochimaru slithered out of the body of the old, whole and unharmed.

Anko fought back the urge to vomit, back in her position in the trees.

Multiple snakes slithered out of Orochimaru's opened mouth, and then those snakes opened their mouths, even more snakes surging forth from those, until a tangled mass of wriggling serpents were headed towards Iruka. The man himself frowned, as blades extended forth from those snakes' mouths.

Drawing only a single senbon, its purpose became immediately clear as hands immediately flashed through handseals upon throwing it. _"Senbon Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"_

One senbon became thousands, however Iruka wasn't finished yet as he formed one more, unique seal.

"_Raiton: Raijinsu!"_

Electricity lashed out to grab the senbon, an enormous and intricate web of metal and lightning. The electric "threads" sheered effortlessly through the serpents, severing them into bloody chunks even before they could even come close, shredding Orochimaru's_ Senja Hōjin_. Orochimaru was forced to shed his old body a second time, as the attack cut into him as well, his arms disappearing in a mist of red. As the discarded shell fell to the ground however, something different could be noted about this new form: in place of legs, Orochimaru's body from the waist down now resembled the tail of a snake.

Just as he reached Iruka for a close combat battle, Iruka stuck out his hands and called for his weapons. The metal rods spun through the air, drawn by electromagnetic forces into their master's hands. Iruka felt the slap of metal against his palms in time to parry Orochimaru's strike, deflecting to the side and lashing out with his free arm to catch Orochimaru in the head. He was unable to follow through, however, as the Sannin's tail reaching beneath his guard to trip him. Iruka rolled out of the way as the Sannin punched the ground where he had been, cracks radiating out from the point of impact. The academy teacher continued the roll as the tail came crashing down, and again as another fist hit next to him. That had given Iruka enough time, however, to charge up another attack, striking Orochimaru squarely in the chest, the snake-man crying out in pain as he was thrown backwards.

Back in the forest, Anko had to clench her fists tight, to keep from chewing on her fingers themselves. "Come on, Iruka-kun." This fight was nerve–wracking to watch, even for her.

"You fool!" Orochimaru roared as he shot forward. Iruka rolled into a handstand and hopped out of the way as the snake master impacted the dirt. He then jumped to the side as Kusanagi carved another path of destruction.

Iruka flashed through hand seals as he stood. "_Fūton: Daitoppa!"_ A powerful wind picked up and launched the Sannin across the clearing.

"Good, now I've got room to work," Iruka muttered to himself, summoning his weapons and sticking them into the ground. Lightning from the clouds overhead lashed down to strike the rods, the electricity arcing back up again to enter Iruka.

Seeing what was happening as he righted himself, Orochimaru's lower half returned to normal, seemingly melting and reforming at the same time from his previous form of a serpent's tail, back into a pair of (somehow still clothed) human legs.

_He intends to finish this,_ the traitor realized.

The amount of electricity that the supposed Chūnin was gathering left no doubt that this was going to be his strongest move. If that was to be the case, then Orochimaru needed to counter that with something equally strong. The only problem was: he didn't have enough chakra for a _Kuchiyose: Sanjū Rashōmon._

"Dammit," Orochimaru muttered angrily as he bit both of his thumbs. He had played around too long; his reserves were near empty. If the Umino's attack was strong enough, it might actually be able to break his defense; Orochimaru hoped it didn't come to that.

Iruka pulled out another scroll amidst the actinic blue dancing around him. With a swipe of his blood, a pair of weights, comparable to the ones Lee and Gai wore, materialized, slamming into the ground with enough force to crater.

_What's he doing?!_ Anko questioned. _Why pull out something like that?_

Iruka strapped them on as Orochimaru readied his hands. Feeling that the preparations were complete, Iruka held out both of his hands. Another bolt of lightning struck the rods and continued the dance as the electricity was channeled into Iruka's hands. A ball of light formed between the Chūnin's hands, steadily growing larger as more electricity channeled into it.

"I've only used this once," Iruka told Orochimaru amidst the ruckus of his attack. "It's an attack I had forbidden myself from using. But, for you, I'll make an exception."

-0-

"What is that?" Ino said as she looked up to the night sky.

It was much too bright to be ten o'clock at night.

"Tch. Troublesome…" Shikamaru muttered, choosing to ignore it as he continued walking.

Not satisfied with such an answer, Ino leapt up into the trees, much to her team's chagrin. She grunted as she pulled herself to the top of tree, perching herself on the tallest most point.

The sight she beheld was nothing short of stunning. It was as if the sun had come up early. Above it, a bolt of lightning looked as if it had struck the ground and gotten stuck, dancing as if trying to release itself.

"What is that?!" a voice asked from the tree next to Ino.

The platinum blonde looked over to see Shikamaru and Chōji having joined her in their own tree, awestruck at the sight.

"I don't know," she breathed in awe.

-0-

The ball was so bright now that Anko had to shield her eyes against it. Iruka-kun seemed to be pouring everything he had into that attack. _He must _really_ want to destroy Orochimaru_, was the stray thought she had.

"I'm not going to die!" Orochimaru slammed both hands onto the ground. "_Kuchiyose: Nijū Rashōmon!"_

Two massive, demonic gates sprouted from the ground. Their evil eyes almost seemed to stare at Iruka in anticipation, as if telling him it was futile. All Iruka could do was smile.

-0-

"Okay, seriously," Shikamaru said, eyes wide. For once, his laziness had been completely dispensed with. "What the hell is going on!?"

"They just sprouted out of the ground! Like daisies!" Chōji muttered, his bag of chips lying forgotten on the branch in front of him.

Ino was silent, stunned. Whatever was happening, this was something huge.

-0-

"It's over!" Iruka shouted. "_RAITON: __**RAIKŌHŌ**__!"_

The sky lit up as a beam of pure energy rocketed towards the Rashōmon gates, gouging the earth before it as it roared.

The first gate was shredded like paper, the demonic metal flash-melted into liquid on contact. The second gate held… barely… but not even a second into contact with the attack, it already began to glow red hot.

Orochimaru clenched his teeth as he poured whatever chakra he had left into his only defense. Otherwise, his death would be a real possibility if he did not. But even then, light began to leak out as the second Rashōmon gate began to bulge and warp, then finally failed altogether. Orochimaru only had an instant to stare, wide-eyed, before he was engulfed in angry light.

Beyond the dispelling gates was a line of destruction. Trees were vaporized or uprooted, dirt scattered into the air. The very air itself almost seemed to groan in agony as it parted in rings around the attack.

Finally it was done. No more chakra to feed the attack, Iruka stopped. The light disappeared, darkness once more flowing into its place. Above the field, the storm, no longer necessary, was quailed, silence taking over where the lightning left off. A gentle breeze began to carry away the clouds and the smoke of battle, revealing stars in the nighttime sky.

"Iruka-kun!" Anko cried, dashing onto the scene. She reached him as he collapsed to one knee, sweat-covered and panting.

Both were shocked, however, to hear a faint chuckling. Orochimaru still stood, alive, yet at the same time, half of his body was missing, boiled away by the attack. That damage came to naught, however, as the snake shed his body one last time and slid onto the ground. With obvious pain, he stood back up.

"Impressive," Orochimaru spoke, smiling despite the situation. "You actually managed to come so close to defeating me. Alas, I'm afraid we will have to call it a draw. Both of us have no more chakra left to call on. Nevertheless, it was indeed the most fun I've had in a long time."

A kunai was in Anko's hand, faster than she could blink, as she charged her former master. However unexpectedly, a Konoha ANBU appeared in her path, disarming her effortlessly.

"Great," Anko spat. "We have a spy in Konoha."

The spy kicked her, sending her sprawling next to Iruka.

"I can see," continued Orochimaru, "why the Yondaime Mizukage went to such personal lengths to exterminate your clan." Iruka snarled at the pasty-faced missing-nin. "It would have been beyond foolish to send anyone less than a Kage to finish them."

"I'll kill you!" Anko roared, but was stopped as Iruka placed a hold on her hand. She stopped, but wanted so much to finish what was started.

There was no words to adequately describe how she felt about seeing her master once more. Simply put, she wanted to murder the bastard and then paint the forest red with his entrails. Nothing less would appease her for what he done to her.

But she had to think about Iruka. If not for this treacherous ANBU, she would have been able to finish this madman off, however if she left the Chūnin's side, this spy would easily be able to cut him down. Naruto would never forgive her if she let that happen.

"The ANBU," explained Iruka, "would be too much for you." He had a gut-feeling about this one, one that he wasn't about to shove aside.

"I know," she whispered back, if reluctantly.

"You'll have to forgive me for cutting short our little reunion, my former student," Orochimaru said. "But I'm afraid have… other matters to attend to." With that, the fake ANBU appeared next to his master, and the two disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

"We were lucky," Iruka said as he fully stood. "If that one had been looking for a fight, it would have gotten ugly."

Anko didn't say anything as she stood next to him. Iruka wobbled for a second, before hunching over.

"If wouldn't be too much trouble…" Iruka began to ask, smiling wryly.

Anko shrugged and pulled his arm around her neck – chakra exhaustion was a real bitch to deal with. Without making another noise, the two began their long trek back to civilization to report to the Hokage.

She was glad, though, that it was dark, otherwise, Iruka might have noted the blush on Anko's cheeks.

-0-

"What on earth was that?" Chōji asked, long after the lights had faded.

Team Ten were still up in the tree tops, discussing what just happened.

Shikamaru rubbed the side of his face. "Judging by the way that storm disappeared right after, and how those gates appeared out of the ground, I'd guess a battle of some kind."

"Do you think it was a genin?" Ino questioned, doubting it herself.

"Not a chance," Shikamaru told her, uncharacteristically bluntly. "The chakra to summon those gates alone would be more than most Chūnin could handle, let alone a genin. That blinding light afterwards must have been some kind of attack, and if it broke through those gates like that, the amount of chakra it had to have had would be just as monstrous."

Ino nodded. "So, who do you think did it?"

Shikamaru muttered something under his breath that sounded like 'troublesome'. "It would have to be somebody A-class ranked or higher."

"But that doesn't answer who it was," Ino said, rubbing her chin in thought.

"Alright, hey, here's an idea… How about we go and ask those guys, 'hey, why are you fighting?' and then run for our lives while they try to kill us too." The sarcasm could be seen dripping off of Shikamaru's words.

Ino sighed. "Fine! Let's just keep moving before someone else finds us, then."

-0-

"Orochimaru-sama," Kabuto began, "I saw the entire battle." He took off the mask he had taken. "It was… quite the show."

"Indeed," Orochimaru grinned as he leaned against a tree – everything, every part of his body hurt. "Had I been at full strength, I would have finished him, but my battle with Naruto-kun before had worn me out already, leaving me with only two-thirds of my original reserve."

"I see," Kabuto said, adjusting his glasses. "Even if you were going easy on him, you must admit the Hyakurai is an impressive Bloodline Limit. It's on par with Kimimaro's Shikotsumyaku."

"Speaking of which," Orochimaru said, turning his gaze onto Kabuto. "Bring Kimimaro-kun to Konoha as soon as possible. I want Naruto to copy his Limit!"

Kill Joy no Jutsu: Well, it's been a while. I decided to take a break from Shattered Eyes and work on some of my other stories. I have been seriously neglecting them, and the change-up was nice. Now I'm not in a rut, and it's still only halfway through summer. By the way, the next chapter of NDS is completed; I'm just waiting for my beta to put the finishing touches on the chapter. And I'm almost done redoing a chapter of Nevermore and am close to finishing the next chapter as well. Tenko is also two/thirds of the way done. Trust me, it's been a boring summer.

For a while, I had people questioning just how strong Iruka could be. Well, I hope this chapter gives you an idea of how strong he could be. And I also thought you guys could use the treat.

The next chapter will pick-up with Naruto. I haven't started the next chapter yet due to other projects, but I'll most likely begin it shortly. There won't be much action, but we'll see some interesting stuff come our way.

Not much else for me to go over, but at least there were a plethora of techniques.

I would also like to thank my beta reader for going farther than ever and adding the translations of my techniques and finding a new name for the jutsu section of our story. Some are recognizable; others are new. By the way, I'm hoping the Kanji for the techniques' names show up; if not, I'm sorry it didn't work out.

I proudly present to you…

Forbidden Scroll of Techniques:

_Raisen no Jutsu_ 「雷閃の術」– Thunder Flash Technique  
Ninjutsu – Clan Technique  
A standard attack technique of the Umino clan, formerly one of their favorites due to the simplicity and ease of use. Naruto makes use of this technique often, although he does not know of its name. By concentrating a large, but loosely-knit charge of lightning-based chakra into their palm, the user can create a devastating stun attack.

_Raiton: Raijinheki_ 「雷遁・雷陣壁」– Lightning Release: Lightning Encampment Wall  
Ninjutsu – B-rank  
Essentially the lightning-based version of _Suiton: Suijinheki_, one of the few defensive, lightning-based available. The technique creates a barrier of electricity capable of deflecting even solid objects. The shield is usually omnidirectional, generating a 360-degree spherical coverage around the user, however skilled practitioners of this technique, such as Iruka, are able to limit how much of themselves the barrier covers (i.e. a hemisphere rather than a full sphere, if attacks are only coming from one direction.) It should be noted, though, that the shield can be pierced if the attack possesses enough force; thinner or higher-velocity attacks usually stand a better chance of doing so, for that reason.

_Raiton: Kanmai no Jutsu_ 「雷遁・神舞の術」– Lightning Release: Gods' Dance Technique  
Ninjutsu – High C-Rank, Clan Technique  
A technique adopted by the Umino clan for its versatility, this move causes lightning to rain down upon an area. Being not a particularly powerful Raiton jutsu, most barrier techniques are able to deflecting it, however the electricity has a large area-of-effect – even if the attack itself is blocked, opponents still have to worry about the grounding effect, making this technique especially good for stunning opponents. Especially skilled users are even capable of controlling the path of the lightning, concentrating the strikes onto one place.

_Senbon Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_ 「千本影分身の術」– Senbon Shadow Clone Technique  
Ninjutsu – B-rank  
A variant of _Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_, in which the user creates replications of an object rather than themselves – in this case, senbon. With this technique, a single thrown weapon can become an entire barrage, which can often have the unintentional bonus of catching the opponent off guard by the sudden increase in numbers. (Note that Sarutobi Hiruzen is known in canon for using _Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_ in his battle against Orochimaru – this is essentially the same technique, only with a different type of weapon.)

_Raiton: Raijinsu_ 「雷遁・雷神巣」– Lightning Release: Thunder God Web  
Ninjutsu – Mid A-rank  
Used in tandem with _Senbon Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_, a devastating lightning-based attack which cuts down targets with a web of sharpened lightning, similar to the science fiction concept of monomolecular wire. The downside to this technique is that it requires several stages of work to set up, before it can be used, however for a ninja with skill and the need for a powerful attack, this is a choice Ninjutsu.

_Senja Houjin_ 「千蛇方陣」– Thousand Snake Phalanx  
Summoning – Unranked  
An area-suppression technique in which Orochimaru summons a wave of snakes, which themselves then summon another, larger wave of snakes, and so on. With such massive numbers, the idea is to bog down, pin, and crush the opponent with overwhelming force. (It should also be noted that Sasori of the Red Sand, Orochimaru's former partner in Akatsuki, possesses a similar move within several of his puppets, through use of storage/summoning seals within the puppet's arm compartments, called _Senju Soubu_, or "Thousand Arm Manipulation Dance".)

_Fuuton: Daitoppa_ 「風遁・大突破」– Wind Release: Great Breakthrough  
Ninjutsu – C-Rank  
This technique creates a large explosion of wind from the user's location, easily leveling everything in its path. A variation of the technique involves a smaller blast of wind which gets ignited with flame.

_Kuchiyose: Sanjuu Rashoumon_ 「口寄せ・三重羅生門」– Summoning: Triple Rashomon  
_Kuchiyose: Nijuu Rashoumon_ 「口寄せ・二重羅生門」– Summoning: Double Rashomon  
Summoning – A-Rank, defensive  
A multiple, simultaneous summoning of the Rashomon Gate, with a corresponding multiplier in defensive power as a result.

_Raiton: Raikouhou_ 「雷遁・雷吼砲」– Lightning Release: Thunder Roar Cannon  
Ninjutsu – S-Rank, kinjutsu  
A forbidden attack created by Umino Iruka, it has only seen combat twice, due to both the massive damage it is capable of inflicting, as well as the amount of setup and charge time it requires. It has been labeled as a kinjutsu, due to the fact that an ordinary person, not in possession of the Hyakurai kekkei genkai, cannot use this attack without the risk of electrocution and/or a potentially lethal backfire. In order to produce the necessary electrical power for Raikouhou, the user must possess either massive chakra stores – rivaling that of a Kage – or else call upon outside sources such as a thunderstorm or electrical generator; without any of these, it is not possible to build up the necessary voltage needed for this attack.

Essentially, this attack is a massive charged particle cannon, capable of superheating any material on contact via heat convection, such that anything struck by the beam is thus instantly vaporized. Such, too, is the recoil caused by this attack, that heavy weights are usually required in order to counterbalance it.


	16. The Poet and the Pendulum

**Chapter 16 – The Poet and the Pendulum**

Haku sighed as he stood before the magnificent cage that held the Kyūbi. One single question had been plaguing him, and he hoped that the she-devil would at least be accommodating enough to provide an answer.

He sighed again, thinking of Naruto. The poor boy must be such a wreck now. First to have succeeded in unlocking the Kyōkagan's strongest power, but in doing so damage his own body. Then for that insufferable vixen to go and play merry havoc with his emotions right afterward. And that was not even mentioning his and his team's encounter with Orochimaru, nor his fight with that other Transcendental Limit holder, Shizuka, beforehand.

No, today simply had not been Naruto-kun's day.

The blond was deeply asleep right now, and neither Haku nor the Kyūbi wished to wake him. Both knew he needed respite from his troubles, however brief it may be.

Already aware of his presence, the massive vixen opened a single, baleful crimson eye. "What do you want?" she growled, as if annoyed that Haku had even dared top approach her.

Haku glared lightly back, unfazed as he took a silent moment to gather his thoughts. "Perhaps a better question might be, what do _you_ want? Even you must have had some reason for the actions you took today."

The Kyūbi snorted, both eyes opening as she stood to her full, towering height. Those eyes narrowed down at the dark-haired boy.

"Why would you want to know?" she growled, not even bothering to mask the spite she felt.

"I am curious," Haku answered levelly. He, or rather the one he had been created in image of, had lived and died in service to those more powerful than he; he knew the giant fox's theatrics for what they were, and he did not fear them as others might."Unlike yourself, I am incapable of having an agenda to pursue; I am simply a representation, nothing more. You, however, clearly have a defined goal of some kind. I would know what that is."

A dark chuckle emanated out from the cage at that. "Freedom," the answer came back, surprisingly forthright. "What I want is_ freedom_, little ninja."

Freedom? Just like that? Haku frowned, unsure whether to believe her or not. The truth, he well knew, was rarely pure, and never simple.

Such a thought must have shown on his face, as the vixen then claimed, "One like you would never understand," before fading back into the depths of the cage, only those luminescent eyes remaining visible.

Indeed, the Nine-Tails mused, none of them could ever understand. They merely thought, perhaps understandably, that her desires merely ranged around the concepts of escape and destruction. How wrong they would be, the simple-minded fools.

Indeed, revenge was something she longed for, but that was not the be-all and end-all of her desires. Make no mistake, that fool Madara would _pay_ for his transgressions against her. The Hidden Village of the Leaves would be burned to the ground, and the wrath she would visit upon the world then would be of _mythical_ proportions. Level mountains and raise tsunamis? Hah! She would split the very _skies _asunder before them, and it would be the last sight that they would ever bear witness to! They would know the true meaning of disaster, once she was finished with them! But even all of that would _pale _before her true goal.

What did she want? Freedom. _Freedom_ from being no more than a mere animal. _Freedom_ from being the pawn of others. _Freedom_ from being nothing more than a mere fragment!

Freedom. That word rolled off her tongue silently, sweeter than the sweetest nectar.

Without a vessel, a means to contain them, the Bijuu were little more than beasts, wild animals, slaves to their own base instincts. In such a state, they could easily be controlled like mere marionettes, mindless creatures obeying the every whim of their "masters".

Uchiha Madara. Senju Hashirama. That had been how those like they could control them, use them as living weapons.

A Bijū installed within a container, however, was sentient. The personality could vary widely, but each of them seemed to follow certain patterns of thinking. Most appeared to take on a masculine persona, but for reasons unknown even to her, the Kyūbi herself had become a female. Influence from the human's stories, perhaps?

She could not remember when self- awareness had become hers, whether it had come gradually or all at once. But armed with that newfound power of reasoning, the Kyūbi had searched through many thousands of years of memories – and in the end, could not help but feel disgust for what she had been. Either she had been a wild beast, mindless and directionless, or else she had been the pet, the slave of someone else.

The Kyūbi would never admit it, but she was jealous of the humans, how they moved about, unappreciative of the free will they possessed even from birth. She hated them, but she was also curious of them. And so she watched them. Watched how they interacted and were able to make choices. And as she began to understand, to comprehend what it was that made humans so different, that curiosity gave way to envy. And to jealousy. And more hatred.

She had found herself, wanting to be… _more_.

And with that desire, was born her one true fear. That if she could become free – free to make her own choices and decisions – would she be able to retain that freedom? Or would she return to the level an unthinking beast once again? That thought above all did not sit well with her, that the intelligence she now was gifted with might not even be a gift at all, but a temporary thing, to be taken back at fate's whim.

But that was something she would have to approach at a later time. First and foremost, getting free of the idiot took precedence over everything else.

It did not take long before she had begun laying down her various plans for escape. Merely gaining dominance over the boy would not be enough – the seal would have to be broken completely before she could escape and become a separate entity unto herself again.

Not only that, but she happened to _enjoy_ being female. A male body was unacceptable.

Which itself gave rise to her first concern: how to manipulate the idiot blond that was her Jinchūriki.

Yet ironically, the answer to that had come from Naruto himself. As humiliating and degrading as his little "_Oiroke no Jutsu_" was, the vixen could not help but be impressed at how easily men could be manipulated by that would-be demon known as 'lust'.

It was… entertaining. That for all they espoused being 'enlightened' and 'civilized' beings, humans were still just as driven by their primal instincts as any other creature, regardless of consequences. Oh, the wonders of what a pair of well-formed breasts could accomplish!

Then it had clicked. She would take the form of a female human. Jinchūriki or not, the boy was still human; even if he were not prone to hormones just yet, eventually he would be, whether he wished it or not.

And so she, the Kyūbi, would be the first of the Bijū to take the form of an actual human.

Then came the next obstacle in her quest for freedom: the seal. It took no genius to recognize that the Fourth Hokage had been an artist – nay, a master – when it came to crafting seals. She remembered many seals in her past, but none nearly so well-made as the one binding her to her current host. Breaking this seal would be a momentous task.

Then again, that was why she was manipulating her container in the first place.

Still, if she were a gambling woman – where that particular human expression came from, she did not know, but it still seemed rather appropriate for her situation – she would bet that the Fourth had been cunning enough to leave multiple safeguards within the seal as well, so as to prevent her attempts to escape. Unfortunately for herself, the only way to truly know what those safeguards might be, would be to trigger them deliberately.

But the seal and Naruto himself were not the real problems, however. The _true_ variable in her plan had come in a form no one could have ever predicted: a Bloodline Limit, a power previously thought to be nothing more than myth. And what a thorn in her side it had become! _She_ had been the source of Naruto's power, as it should have been, but then that damnable Limit had had to go and reveal itself!

As it stood, she may be currently winning this little tug-of-war for control of the blond, but the Kyūbi knew that wouldn't last forever. Once the boy eventually recovered, there was little doubt he would return to using the Kyōkagan again.

She would not stand for it!

"It's ironic," a voice cut into her train of thought. The voice of the very one she plotted to upstage. "You emulate the very beings you so despise."

The Kyūbi looked down and growled, suddenly reminded of Haku's continued presence.

Her bared teeth, however, did not deter the boy. "You claim to hate humans, and yet you so willingly choose to take on a human form."

The Kyūbi angrily slammed her tails into the gate, the crash of metal blasting noisily throughout the flooded tunnels of Naruto's inner mind, but both of them knew it would not silence the boy.

With a sigh, the Hyōton user went on. "You truly make no sense to me. I can see that by taking on human characteristics, your strength has increased incredibly. And yet … why did you not simply stop there?"

"**BE SILENT!**"Kyūbi screamed, the antechamber quaking with the force of her roar.

As the room became still, Haku smiled softly. He turned away from the monster behind the gate, an ice mirror crystallizing before him. But before he disappeared into it, he cast one last look over his shoulder. "You are far more like humans than you are willing to admit," was all he said.

Haku would never know just how much that simple claim struck home, his mirror fading away even as the miasma of the vixen's rage consumed the chamber.

* * *

Sarutobi gripped the bridge of his nose savagely between thumb and forefinger as he took in everything that Anko and Iruka had just told him. He knew now that Orochimaru was plotting against him, but not how. Then there was the matter of the spy that had come to his failed pupil's rescue – that his treacherous former student had agents hiding in _his_ village left a foul taste in Sarutobi's mouth.

But worst of all was the knowledge that Orochimaru now knew of the Kyōkagan. Konoha's situation was now very precarious.

The veteran of three Great Shinobi World Wars looked up from his thoughts to see Iruka and Anko, both standing tall despite their various injuries – Anko looked fairly untouched, however, compared to Iruka. Both faces were solemn; no doubt both of them felt as if they had failed in their self-appointed task to protect their little brother-figure.

For Anko, it was anger that she had not seen this coming. She should have pulled Naruto's team, the _instant_ she knew that egg-sucking son-of-a-sea snake had broken into the exams! But no, she wanted _so much_ to believe it was simply some idiot genin with more ego than sense, trying to copy an infamous traitor's technique.

She should have known better. He who had once been her sensei was more than brazen enough to try and sneak into the strongest of the Five Great Ninja Villages, and she of all people should've known that!

"Hokage-sama," wondered Iruka politely, "isn't there anything we can do?"

Sarutobi sighed. He really was getting too old for this shit. "Sadly, no. Not at this time."

Anko looked like she had just bitten into a lemon, glaring downward in anger. Iruka at least kept his composure visibly, although Sarutobi was fairly certain he could smell a faint whiff of ozone. Not that he could blame either of them; this news was clearly hitting them both hard.

"I don't know what Orochimaru's intentions are, although on a few points I can probably guess," the old man explained. "Until he moves, we have no choice but to wait, and bide our time. But he knows about Naruto-kun now, and that complicates matters considerably. We cannot predict how he is going to react to the Kyōkagan, and for that reason, it is paramount that we keep a keen eye on him for his own protection. We cannot allow him, or the Kyōkagan, to fall into outside hands."

"Shouldn't we remove him from the exams?" Anko questioned. "Hell, for that matter, shouldn't we just cancel the exams altogether?"

Sarutobi's lips pressed into a grim line. In truth, that had been the first thing he had thought of, the instant Orochimaru's name had come up. Ideally, it would allow them to run damage control on the situation, as well as concentrate on hunting down Orochimaru, _before_ he could ruin Naruto's secret to the world. Iruka and Anko alone would be able to smoke the snake out of his hole, given enough time.

But that in itself was the main problem: time. There was just no way to tell how long such an act would actually take, should the traitor decide to go to ground. Orochimaru's reputation, both as a legendary ninja and as an infamous missing-nin and traitor was well and truly earned – that Konoha had already been pursuing him, literally for years without catching him, meant the old snake was a master of covering his own tracks. This was actually the closest Konoha had _ever_ come to bringing him down – and even then, there was still so much up in the air.

Until then, all they could do was wait.

"The exams will continue," Sarutobi said finally. "And Naruto-kun will remain in them." Much as it galled him, the good of the many still outweighed the good of the one; as important as Naruto had become and always was, he was not the whole of the entire village.

Neither Anko nor Iruka reacted visibly, but Sarutobi knew they must be seething inside – the faintly flickering lights, the most obvious sign of Iruka's distress. Not that he particularly blamed the man: he was all but ordering Naruto to remain in the path of danger.

"I truly hate to think like this," he said wearily, "but for the good of Konoha, Naruto-kun needs to act as our bait. As long as he is involved, Orochimaru is sure to make his presence known eventually."

"But…" Anko was going to argue, but cut herself off at the sight of the Third's eyes, weary and resolute at the same time. "…I understand, Hokage-sama."

"I am sorry, you two, truly I am," Sarutobi muttered, before steeling himself. This was not a decision made lightly, and he would be damned if he did not see it through to the end. "But this is truly our best bet for drawing Orochimaru out into the open. I have no doubt he's taken interest in Naruto-kun and the Kyōkagan, and without that, there is simply no telling when he might ever make another appearance."

"What if he finds out about how the Kyōkagan can create other Limits?" Iruka asked, only a slight mania creeping into his composure. Silently, Sarutobi applauded the boy; he was not sure even he could have remained so calm, were their situations reversed. There was a reason he had recommended Iruka for ANBU commander, after all.

"It's possible he may already know," the Third replied. "But even so, that's still a risk we'll have to take."

"I… understand, Hokage-sama," Iruka swallowed, forcing himself to get the rest out. And he did understand. Konoha would likely never get another chance like this, should Naruto be put under protection. So that the village could finally deal with its greatest mistake, there was no choice but for his little brother-figure to remain in harm's way.

That did not mean he had to like it, however. One way or another, Iruka intended to make _sure_ Orochimaru was dead, by the time this was over.

Sarutobi closed his eyes and nodded, easily guessing the thrust of the Academy teacher's thoughts. "Anko, I need you to locate Kakashi and Tenzō; bring them here immediately. Iruka, you'll do the same for Jiraiya."

Iruka blinked, surprised at the mention of the Toad Sage. Had the Hokage somehow already known Konoha was going to become such a hotspot of activity in the coming month? Or was it simply coincidence that the last remaining member of the Legendary Sannin still loyal to Konoha happened to be in town as well?

"He's here?" Iruka wondered aloud, unable or perhaps unwilling to conceal the surprise in his voice at that piece of knowledge.

Sarutobi nodded, a faint smile tugging at the corner of his mouth, "He is. And if I know my old student at all, you should be able to find him around the hot springs; one of his favorite 'research stops'. We need react quickly to the situation; Konoha is sitting on a primed explosive tag, and we need to do whatever we can to limit the damage. Once I've finished talking to everyone who's aware of Naruto's bloodline, intend to call a meeting all Jōnin still present in Konoha for on how to deal with Orochimaru's presence."

* * *

Tenzō could only sigh as he stepped into the bar, both hands tucked into the pockets of his armored vest. The former ANBU was looking for a certain someone, someone he knew was enjoying this brief bit of time away from his students.

In fact, no sooner did he set foot in the establishment, did he notice the signature gravity-defying hair of one Hatake Kakashi. The silver-haired jōnin was seated at the bar, a bottle of sake sitting in front of him.

"That can't be healthy for you, Sempai," the Mokuton user stated plainly, sliding into the seat next to him.

Kakashi eyed his former subordinate. "Now, now. I've seen you partake before too, you know."

Tenzō smirked, shaking his head, "Only once in a while. And even then, I never drink more than it takes to just get a slight buzz." He paused. "You're really worried about them, aren't you?"

Kakashi considered denying it for a moment, then just sighed. "Aa. I wonder it was a smart choice, entering them in the Exams."

For his own part, Tenzō could only shrug in reply, flagging down the bartender to order a pot of tea, oolong, one cup. Pot and cup slid across the counter perhaps a minute and a half later, depositing themselves squarely in front of him. The Mokuton user smirked; now that took skill.

Holding the cup out before him with both hands, Tenzō felt the warmth of the drink seeping into them as he spent a moment in contemplation. "I think it was the right choice," he said finally. "As fast as they've all been growing, it was really only a matter of time. As they are now, any one of them could make it. Another year, or even just six months? All three, without a doubt. It's strange, but for some reason, I can't help but see those three as the next Sannin somehow – the old Sannin, before Orochimaru's betrayed the village and Tsunade-hime left it." He shrugged, "Who knows, maybe even greater than that."

His part spoken, Tenzō finally took a sip of his tea. Good stuff, that.

Next to him, Kakashi's thoughts drifted as his mind took in what his kōhai had just told him. Nothing but the truth. His whole team happened to be a rather extreme rarity, even for the ninja world: every last one of them possessing a Bloodline Limit, himself and Tenzō included. That made for an especially powerful setup.

But even more than blood, there was the raw potential. His team was fast developing a reputation as one that could not only learn, but apply that learning in ways few people could expect. Even Asuma had come to Kakashi after Team 10's encounter with Naruto and asked him flat-out, "Just what the hell are you _teaching_ these kids, Kakashi?"

Kakashi at that particular moment could not have been prouder of them.

His lone visible eye softened at the thought. "Yeah. All three of them are one-of-a-kind."

Looking back on this conversation in the years to come, Kakashi would never so curse anything he had ever done, so much as that one statement.

An unexpected movement in their peripheral visions, and Tenzō and Kakashi turned to see a newcomer taking a seat three chairs away from them. What was more, neither of them recognized her, a point of mild interest for the two ex-ANBU. A woman, apparently around Kakashi's age or perhaps a bit older, with free-flowing, wine-red hair held up by a white and pink hairclip that clashed horrendously with the rest of her outfit. Not that the outfit was all that common, either: a black dress that came down to her mid-thighs, as well as a pair of tight-fitting shorts, clearly only for the sake of modesty.

She looked rather out of place, for the most part, (this being a shinobi bar , and all) – if not for the hitai-ate wrapped around her arm like an armband and the set of thin, concealed kunai strapped around her right thigh, the two of them might have mistaken her for a civilian. The symbol on her armband wasn't one they recognized, either, significant for the two ex-ANBU – a sun partially concealed by a crescent moon, like a stylized ideal of a solar eclipse.

That interest only increased when they heard the lady order a shot of hard liquor, straight, no ice – rum, they thought they hear her say. Clearly she must be upset about something, however her training would not allow her to show it visibly; to anyone else, she may as well have simply been there for a good time.

"Genjutsu specialist?" Tenzō wondered quietly, concealing the movement of his lips behind another sip. It really was good tea.

Kakashi nodded fractionally, pretending to be looking straight ahead as he fiddled with his own saucer. "Looks like. Don't even need the Sharingan to pick up the genjutsu on her arms, powerful ones at that. Probably multi-layered; give me a second to check." He made as if to take a drink, lowering his mask for a split second. "At least eleven layers on her arm; you'd need a serious genjutsu master, just to remove them."

Tenzō might have whistled at that, if not for that it would call attention to him. For this women to have that extent of layering over her, meant she was either extremely paranoid, or else really, really good at what she did.

Kakashi poured a refill of sake into his saucer. "Why do you think she's here?" he wondered idly.

"Has to be for the Exams," Tenzō replied, before taking another sip. "Don't get too many visits from unallied nations otherwise."

"True, true," Kakashi nodded absently.

Tenzō looked out from the corner of his eye, taking a closer look at the hairclip – cliché as it may sound, poisoned hairpins tended to be a favorite among kunoichi who specialized almost exclusively in genjutsu. There were exceptions, of course, but…

That was when he realized the fundamental mistake he and Kakashi had just made in their original analysis. That was no hairclip; that was an orchid mantis. And it was staring straight at them.

_Oh, shit…_

Then as if to confirm Tenzō's fears, the woman stood, turned, and smiled sweetly at the two of them. Even Kakashi tensed at that; _far_ too sweet for that smile to _ever_ be innocent. Even as she all but sashayed over, her hips swaying sensually as she moved to stand between them, that sense of impending doom only magnified, the closer she got. Both Jōnin shifted nervously toward the edges of their seats, ready to make a break for it, but that hope was dashed as she hung her arms around their necks.

"Checking me out, boys?" she smiled mischievously, perhaps overly so. "Should I be so flattered?"

"Uh, depends, I suppose," Kakashi suggested, his usual unflappable demeanor abandoning him in his time of need. "We were just appreciating your, uh…" He stopped, groping about blindly for the right words. There were some things a man could just appreciate about a woman, but damned if he would ever be suicidal enough to state that aloud.

"Oh, I know what you were doing," she cut in happily. "We are shinobi, after all; it's what we do." Then her expression abruptly reversed itself, the sudden, almost angry seriousness, a complete one-eighty from its previous playfulness. "I do not, however, like people's gazes fixing rudely onto certain parts of my body."

Tenzō blinked, briefly confused before he turned to look blankly at Kakashi, only to find the faintest traces of an embarrassed blush peeking out from underneath the Hatake's mask. Oh, _not_ good… His sempai must have been sneaking a glance at the woman's generous bust while he had been analyzing those genjutsu on her arms.

Tenzō suppressed the urge to wince. This was not going to end well.

The woman turned to face Tenzō, "You, I'll spare." The former ANBU almost sagged with relief; some battles simply were not meant to be fought.

Then her gaze snapped back over to Kakashi. "You, on the other hand…" And with that, she suddenly grabbed his head , faster than even the former ANBU captain could react, and slammed it down onto the bar counter hard enough to leave a dent in the mahogany paneling.

And then suddenly, she was all the way back to smiling sweetly again. "Have a nice night, boys!"

Tenzō watched dumbfounded as she grabbed her shot-glass, drained its entire contents in one swallow, and then sauntered out of the bar with nary a single drunken sway in her movements. Wide-eyed, he turned to look at Kakashi, who was even now tenderly pinching his broken nose to staunch the blood flow.

Tenzō couldn't help but chuckle, much to Kakashi's dismay. "You really do have bad luck with women, don't you, sempai?"

"Shu' up," Kakashi growled – no, make that gurgled nasally.

Tenzō smiled, and probably would have said more, except that the doors to the bar suddenly burst open then, revealing a distraught, injured-looking, and heavily breathing Anko. Kakashi shivered, suddenly struck by the memory of the time Gai had gotten it into his head to see how many times he could sprint non-stop around Konoha before he collapsed from exhaustion – somehow, Anko actually looked worse than even that.

Every resident in the bar paused at the abrupt, and loud, entrance. All conversation cut off; the sudden silence afterward was all but deafening.

Those few who did not know who this woman was – Jōnin-sensei visiting from other villages, mostly, here for the Exams – wondered exactly that was, that she would burst in here like this. Those who _did_ know her, however, were immediately on-edge as soon as they saw her bruised and battered state. What the hell could have happened, to have put _Mitarashi Anko_ in such a state? And just how soon a warning did they have, now, before the excrement hit the rotor blades?

Gulping down air as she limped across the floor towards the two co-leaders of Team 7, "Kakashi. Tenzō," she panted, somehow looking deadly serious despite her obvious out-of-breath fatigue. "Hokage's office. NOW."

* * *

"Don't worry, sempai, she'll be alright," chirped the colorful little mantis happily as it scuttled down to perch on her shoulder.

On Jizenka was not so easily allayed, however. Even as she walked through the streets of Konoha, her mind was stuck on thoughts of her student… her niece. The Jōnin of Hakubogakure no Sato, the Village Hidden in the Twilight, had no one left to call family, save for that one girl. If something were to happen to Shizuka, Jizenka would never forgive herself.

"Come on, sempai! Cheer up!" the mantis urged, waving its scythe-like limbs about for emphasis.

Even through her worry, Jizenka could not help but smile at the bug's innocent enthusiasm. "Nemu, I have a lot of things on my mind." That smile shifted into a frown, "I can't help worrying about Shizuka; I'm… disturbed, at the last thing your aunt told me. Her match with that blond boy didn't end well. If only she wasn't so…" She halted, stumbling over the right word to use.

_Several_ words could be used to describe Shizuka accurately, honestly. She was whimsical, bordering on reckless, actually – while that did not annoy Jizenka, per se, there had been moments. Shizuka was also stubborn and prideful when she wanted to be, a point Jizenka had done her best to try and beat out of her on several occasions, but with only limited success – the word "humble" just did not and would not exist in that girl's vocabulary. And then there was that vengeful streak of hers…

Jizenka had long come to accept there would always be that part of her twin sister's daughter that demanded vengeance for her father's death. But at the same time, she never seemed to be able to understand the cyclical nature of hatred – even if that boy _was_ the son of the Yellow Flash, the man responsible for Tsusuka Retsu's death, what possible good would killing him do? What could ever be accomplished by revenge, except more death, more hatred, and even more revenge? Jizenka knew firsthand how difficult it was to let go of hatred, but as a shinobi, she was above all else a professional. Yes, Namikaze Minato had killed her sister and brother-in-law in battle, but never once had that ever been a personal act for the man. There was a war, and they were on opposite sides, and that was all there ever was to it.

Not that it mattered, in the end. Try as Jizenka might to reason with the girl, Shizuka angrily and adamantly refused to let the perceived slight of her father's death go.

"Sempai…" Nemu whined, jarring Jizenka out of her thoughts.

"Oh, sorry, Nemu! Just… thinking."

"It's okay." The little bug then snatched at a fly that approached too closely and quickly began to devour it. Jizenka rolled her eyes.

Mantises were an interesting summons to have, to say nothing of the benefits they brought to their summoner. The additional, high-level jutsu alone that they provided, made their contract one of the most coveted ones out there – nearly as much so as the famous Toad, Slug, and Snake contracts of the Legendary Sannin. That Jizenka herself even had this contract, she could freely attest was only because of the purest of luck.

She sighed. "I suppose we might as well go back to the hotel. I just hope your aunt has better news to bring us."

To ensure her niece actually to stay out from getting in over her head, Jizenka had sent a mantis to keep watch over the girl. The first report so far, however, had not been very promising; Shizuka may have found the blond boy she intended to kill, but their battle had been anything but the one-sided slaughter Shizuka had envisioned it to be. According to Kiku's report, the boy – Naruto, she thought it was; unusual name, that – himself had _also_ turned out to have a Bloodline Limit unlike anything anyone had ever seen. As of that report, maybe half an hour after the battle, Shizuka still had yet to regain consciousness. In the meantime since then, Jizenka herself was doing her level best not to break out in a blind panic.

"Please, come back in one piece," the redhead murmured, even as she stepped into the hotel lobby.

* * *

Anko, Kakashi, and Tenzō stood at attention before the Hokage like soldiers readying for action. At the mere muttering of a command, they would be willing to give their lives for their village. Whatever the Hokage had to say, they would listen.

Unfortunately, they would not like the info he they were about to be given.

"Orochimaru knows of the Kyōkagan," Sarutobi stated without preamble. Pleasantries be damned, this was far too important to do anything but go straight to the heart of the matter.

As expected, both Kakashi's and Tenzō's eyes went wide. Already, thoughts of the potential consequences were racing through their minds. Even just the fact that Orochimaru had penetrated village security undetected was significant enough. But the knowledge that the traitor knew and was aware of Naruto's Bloodline Limit and the power it could potentially hold… Both men shivered involuntarily.

Then those expressions hardened into resolve. Over their dead bodies!

"He appears to have infiltrated the exams, under the guise of one of the genin applicants," Sarutobi explained bluntly. "We still aren't sure what his complete intentions are, but when Anko and Iruka-kun managed to engage him in combat—" Both jōnin blinked, and turned to view the woman in question; Anko looked normal enough on the surface, but they were both were far too experienced to miss the abject misery lurking just beneath her façade. "—Orochimaru apparently let slip his knowledge of the Kyōkagan, and that he had already encountered Naruto-kun in the Forest." Sarutobi shrugged, "Or not; my former student's belief in his own superiority has always been one of his biggest flaws.

"But regardless of reasons, our forces fought him, and if not for the unfortunately timely appearance of a traitor in our ranks, masquerading as one of our ANBU, we might even have been able to finish him. Both persons' whereabouts are currently unknown."

Kakashi and Tenzō both growled at that. A traitor. The one thing that those of Konoha truly hated above all else was traitors. To believe in the Will of Fire was to give your life for the safety of the village and its people; to betray that, was a blasphemy against everything that Konoha stood for.

"What are our orders, Hokage-sama?" Kakashi said tersely, all traces of apathy burned away to reveal the visage of a professional assassin and soldier.

"For now, nothing," the Third answered, just as short. "Until Orochimaru makes his next move, we cannot predict what his intentions might be. We do, however, know he now has an vested interest in Naruto-kun and his development; anything he might do will no doubt involve him. For that reason, I intend to have anyone with knowledge of the Kyōkagan keep watch over Naruto-kun, in case Orochimaru shows up."

"Um, Hokage-sama?" wondered Anko nervously. "Where are Iruka-kun and Jiraiya-sama?"

Tenzō blinked, "Jiraiya-sama is in the village?" That was… something of a surprise to the Mokuton user, actually. The Toad Sage was almost infamous for his reclusive (and perverted) behavior; the number of times he had visited Konoha in the last dozen years – ever since the death of the Fourth – could be counted on one hand, with fingers to spare.

"He is," the Hokage affirmed. "I managed to get him in town just before the exams started, however since our initial meeting, I haven't seen hide nor hair of him. I can only assume he's been staking out the women's bathhouses this whole time. I had hoped Iruka-kun might have been able to retrieve him before this meeting, but it seems my old student is still just as evasive as ever."

"Does he already know?" questioned Kakashi.

Sarutobi nodded, "He does. I told him, for certain… various reasons. It seemed he even had certain information about it already, although he was… less than forthcoming about what that information was."

"Oh, I'll make him forthcoming, alright…" Anko snarled, eyes narrowed at the thought of the white-haired pervert.

"But you are taking Naruto out of the exams, right?" Tenzō questioned.

"No," Sarutobi said bluntly. Both jōnin were shocked, gobsmacked at the Third's answer. "If I were to do that, Orochimaru might never come out of hiding. I loathe even the very idea of using one of our own genin as mere bait, but this is truly the greatest chance we've ever had to be able to defeat Orochimaru once and for all."

Privately, Tenzō could agree with the elder's reasoning – all parts of it. Even just the thought of using a child as bait to lure in a dangerous criminal made him sick to his stomach, but for something as important as this, the ends really would justify the means. And besides, it wasn't like he could go against his commander-in-chief's orders, anyway; such a concept was invariably known as treason.

"I understand, sir," he bowed solemnly. And hoped that history – and Naruto – would forgive him for the act.

Sarutobi gave them both a wan smile. " Good, you're all dismissed."

* * *

Naruto's crimson eyes blinked open. Groaning, he propped himself up on his elbows and tried to take in his surroundings. Why was he in a forest…? Oh, right; Chūnin Exams.

And then the memories of yesterday came rushing back with all the force of a cattle stampede. Naruto had to grit his teeth against the memories of the battles against Shizuka and that snake guy. And then again, against the memory of meeting the Kyūbi and Haku.

With an effort, he forced himself to unclench his jaw, and sighed. So far, this entire exam had been nothing but one big pain in the ass after another. He was really starting to regret signing that waiver now!

Sighing, and ignoring the powerful yet dull throbbing behind his eyeballs, Naruto slowly brought himself to standing upright, his vision clearing enough that he could properly look around now.

It was… rather surprising, actually, just how much damage he and Orochimaru had actually caused. Scorch marks, craters, shattered trees, the list just went on and on. And there was blood. Lots of blood. Probably his – he couldn't remember hitting that snake bastard hard enough to make him bleed _that_ much, anyway.

Then he caught sight of Sasuke and Sakura. For a brief instant, Naruto panicked, realizing how close they would have been to being in the line of fire, and rushed over to their unconscious forms.

The first body he reached was Sasuke's. The Uchiha's normally immaculate appearance was now anything but; dirt had been ground into his skin and clothing, and the hair that all his fangirls seemed to all but swoon over (which Naruto always thought looked more like the back end of a duck, honestly) was festooned with leaves and a few twigs. Naruto fought back the urge to snicker; Sasuke always seemed to take a certain pride in his groomed appearance. If the bastard could only see himself now…

Then the amusement cut off like a switch. Amusing as the Uchiha's disheveled appearance was, that wasn't what worried Naruto. The fever and that nasty-looking bite would on his shoulder, were. What was worse, Sakura-chan seemed to have the exact same problem.

"What the hell did that bastard do to them?" he yelled, utterly uncaring of whoever might overhear.

Or ignorant, rather; the fact that the second test was still going on caught up with him then. The blond blanched, and then whipped his head around from side to side, frantically searching for anyone that might be in range. No one. He sighed, good.

Calmer now, the boy looked up, trying to determine what time it was from the available sky overhead. _That's odd…_

From the stars above, it looked like it must be the middle of the night, hours before dawn at least. Yet somehow, everything looked as bright as day to the blond.

It surprised him that no one had come across his team. To be out cold for so long… If someone determined to reduce the amount of competition had come along, nothing would have stopped them from slitting all three of their throats. Perhaps the massive amounts of chakra and jutsu from the battle had scared them all off? It would not have surprised him.

A split second's worry passed through Naruto's mind for Shizuka, but that was it. He may not have actually wanted to see her dead, but it was still very hard to be sympathetic for the person whose explicit goal was nothing more than your own cold-blooded murder.

On the other hand, that girl had all the tenacity of a goddamned cockroach – maybe she was alive, and maybe another team had gotten to her. Naruto didn't know, and after all that he had been through, he somehow couldn't find it in him to care, either. All he cared about right now, was getting his team to safety, and most emphatically _not_ encountering the little psycho again.

Naruto let out a sigh at that. His team. The three of them needed shelter so they could recover, preferably well-hidden at that. Shizuka may have been… dealt with for now, but there was also Gaara to contend with. It being the middle of the night wouldn't mean a damned thing to an insomniac already gone completely crazy from sleep-deprivation.

For the first time in a long time, Naruto brought his fingers up in a familiar cross-shaped seal. A burst of chakra and a technique name later, four clones poofed into existence. Two for each of his teammates, one to carry their shoulders and torso, the other their feet and legs. The real Naruto, meanwhile, busied himself with gathering their surviving supplies.

* * *

The shelter Naruto eventually chose was hidden on the ground below, a depressed hollow underneath the base of a tree, practically a small cave by itself, that was concealed by the other trees around it. It did not go very far underground, but it was protected from the elements and, more importantly, defensible.

After securing his unconscious teammates in the farthest-back section of the hollow – Naruto had the strangest urge to call it a den, for some reason – the first thing he did was to set a probably unnecessarily large number of clones to building a detailed network of traps throughout the area. Once completed, each of the clones dissipated, rather than chance setting off some other clone's trap. Naruto blinked, suddenly finding himself with the memories and information of setting up each and every trap in the clearing, and how they corresponded to all the others – surprisingly, there weren't any significant gaps in the traps' coverage, either. He'd have to file that away for later use, the clones and how the traps interlaced their coverage like that; already thoughts for an all-new prank were bouncing around his mind.

The best trap, however, he saved for last, just outside the den itself: a minefield of exploding tags and various other assorted lethal goodies, guaranteed to ruin the day of anyone or anything stupid enough to enter the clearing.

With a sigh of relief, Naruto leaned back to recline against the wall of the entrance, conveniently concealed by one of the great tree roots. Forcing himself to un-tense, he scanned out across the clearing and beyond, his vermillion eyes almost luminescent in the darkness. So far, he hadn't sensed anyone nearby; a few animals, but nothing threatening enough, or close enough to setting off one of the traps, to warrant killing.

As much as he hated her for doing this to him, Naruto was thankful that the Kyūbi had at least been generous enough to leave him with enhanced senses. Even as dark out as it was, it may as well be midday for him, he could see so clearly. His hearing had been heightened as well – he could hear the water of a running brook, some unknown distance away, even through the much louder noises of the nightlife, and his nose might as well be as good as any Inuzuka's now. Still, beyond those and the massive increase in his chakra stores, Naruto wasn't sure what else the Kyūbi had "gifted" him with.

He heard the sound of a throat being cleared from behind him. He snorted; speak of the devil and you shall see her tails…

"What do you want?" he bit out, turning aside so he could see her. The humanized vixen was leaning forward on a root, her chin pillowed on her crossed arms before her.

"Oh, nothing," she singsonged, far too innocent to be in any way believable.

His jaw tightened angrily, but he forced himself to sigh and just drop it. Arguing with the bitch right now would just be a waste of his time. "Fine. How long until I can switch back to the Kyōkagan?" he questioned. That instant's pause in her expression made him smirk inwardly – huh, was he turning into Sasuke, now?

Then it was gone, smoothed over so fast that if he hadn't already been looking he would have missed it entirely. Followed by that infuriating smile. "Indeterminate." His jaw twitched – translation, _Like hell I'm telling you!_

"Tell me now, or I'm switching back immediately," he threatened. For all of her smugness, Naruto knew they both knew how tenuous the Kyūbi's hold over him really was.

And she knew he knew, too. Distasteful, but she really didn't have any choice. "Perhaps a week. Maybe a bit more."

Even then, he was not reassured – for all he knew, she may just be lying out her tailed ass, just so she could maintain dominance for as long as possible. Naruto may not have been the sharpest kunai in the pouch, but even he could see that she was out to keep him from using the Kyōkagan for as long as she could manage.

"What are you doing out of your kennel, anyway, bitch? I know you damn good and well you wouldn't come out just to see how I'm doing!"

If the vixen was insulted by her host's words, she gave no sign, merely clucked her tongue disapprovingly in that way that never failed to piss him off. "How very inconsiderate of you to badmouth your benefactor!" If not for that ever-present cryptic smile of hers, the Kyūbi might have actually looked offended at him. "Perhaps I should kiss you, to make you reconsider such words?"

"Nah, I'd rather play tonsil hockey with hungry sharks before _that'll_ happen!"

"Now that's not very nice," she chastised, mock-hurt. Naruto only gave her a flat, level gaze in response. He figured her good mood must be from how he was using her chakra, thus giving her the foothold in his mind needed to be having this conversation.

"You know," Naruto began, feigning nonchalance as he leaned back against the hard earth wall, hands laced together behind his head, "the Kyōkagan's got some pretty kickass powers so far. Yours, on the other hand? Besides the better senses and _maybe_ the bigger reserves…" He shrugged, as if it were of no consequence. "Well, so far I haven't been impressed, yet."

Incongruously, the Kyūbi giggled at that, "And here I was worried we actually might not come to that topic!" Naruto pursed his lips as she pushed herself upright to a standing position; well, at least now he knew what the hell she was doing here… "All the abilities I grant stem from unlimited chakra. Nothing on this entire planet can rival the power I wield. Even the other Tailed Beasts are as nothing, compared to me."

Smothering down the irritation he felt at her, Naruto slipped his hand free from behind his head and twirled it around in the air, as if bored and impatient with her little sermon, "Yeah, yeah, that's great and all, but what does _that_ do for _me_?"

"If you would be quiet and not interrupt," her voice briefly hardened, flashing annoyance, "I'll tell you. First, you'll need to learn how to concentrate the chakra I've given you. Normally, I would probably say just try it, however this close to your little killing field—" Was it Naruto's imagination, or was there actually a note of wary respect in her tone just now? "I wouldn't really recommend it. Should you lose control of the power at all, it might probably set off all of this little collection of yours of flash papers. Assuming any of us even survive, well…" She shrugged negligently, as if the idea of being blown to bits was of no consequence to her, "Let's just say I would rather not have to regenerate your entire body almost from scratch, if I didn't have to."

Naruto… had no idea what to say to that, honestly. How _would_ one respond to something like that? He shook it off then, and asked instead, "So what happens when I _do_ compress it?"

The human-shaped vixen smiled slyly, "You create fire… or at least something roughly akin to it. Just as the process of condensation will turn vapor into water, my chakra, so compressed down upon, will begin to take on a more… _fluid _state. It will not remain that way, however, as for reasons even I have…" She grimaced, as if reluctant to admit it, "…never fully understood, on the slightest contact with air, such chakra bursts immediately into flames." She shrugged then, dismissing the oddity, "Fuel for the fire. Continue to feed my chakra to the flames, and they will continue to burn. Stop, and so will they, instantly. That is the most basic technique I will need you to learn. Once that is done, I'll be able to teach you more advanced abilities, but until then, you will need to learn the first step: compression."

Naruto took that moment to look down at his hands. Unmarked, undamaged, but he could easily envision them filled with flames. "So basically, once I do learn how to make this…" he halted briefly, trying to find a better term, "fuel chakra, I'll be able to learn all the other stuff?" he asked unsurely.

The redhead nodded. "Correct. My own powers might not be as… _varied_ as the Kyōkagan," here it was a visible effort to keep from gnashing her teeth at the name of that detestable bloodline, "but they are powerful, nonetheless. Consider it a question of quality over quantity, if you wish," she smirked, the implied insult obvious.

Naruto grunted, sourly rubbing at the back of his head, "Still means I'm all the way back at square one, though."

"Oh, quit your whining, boy. I'm sure you'll come to… _love_ my abilities," she leered. Then as if to emphasize her point, her eyes suddenly changed themselves – previously completely human-looking aside from their color, the pupils rapidly elongated to vertical slits, crimson irises lighting up to glow with chakra. And then she was gone, vanished as if she were never there to begin with. Naruto grimaced; perhaps she hadn't, at that…

He looked up, the deep blue of night beginning to give way to morning colors.

He had seen those bite marks on Sakura-chan and Sasuke's necks; he needed to make sure those got cleaned out so no infections could set in. On top of that, he also needed to take the Kyūbi's advice for once, and see if he could figure out how to concentrate her chakra down like she said. _And_ he needed to figure out how to get two wounded teammates out of this forest, preferably _without_ getting caught in the process.

He sighed; this was going to be a very long day. Benten-sama just had to be punishing him over making fun of the forest, back before the exam started, he just knew it. Forest of Death, indeed…

Casting one last look over his improvised minefield and knowing he needed sleep, Naruto trudged into the depths of the den, laying himself down perhaps an arm's length away from his unconscious teammates. Using one of the surviving backpacks as a makeshift pillow, Naruto tried to sleep as lightly as possible.

* * *

Since his meeting with the Hokage hours ago, Iruka had been on the search for the legendary Toad Sage.

Legendary, and apparently highly elusive as well. Iruka had already searched out all of the bathhouses, yet had found neither hide nor hair of the perverted Sannin. Although once that his sleep-deprived mind thought of it, perhaps that had been _because_ it was so late at night; the bathhouses were all but deserted, save only those keeping odd hours. After that, he had abandoned the Third's suggested search parameters, and simply done it his own way: bioelectric tracking. Yet somehow, even that method was proving strangely fruitless; even now as the sun was beginning to peak above the horizon, Iruka had yet to locate his target.

Iruka sighed, about ready to give up ; he'd searched all night, and if he kept going any longer, he was probably either going to pass out in the middle of the street, or else start hallucinating. Yeah, sleep sounded pretty good, right about now, Jiraiya-sama could wait until tomorrow…

His mind made up, Iruka raised his eyes to look for a street sign. He was… about a dozen blocks from his apartment, not too bad. Eyes closed as he trudged along, only opening them every few steps to make sure he didn't run into anything or anyone, Iruka let his mind drift… Only to sense something – someone – its signature kind of like those of… toads?

His mental fatigue flashed away with the realization, it was him!… But, on the other side of Konoha, almost. Oh, who cares – Iruka leapt up onto a power line, crackling sparks spitting loudly out from beneath his feet as he rode along the electrified cable like a grind rail. The chill morning wind was bracing against his face as he shot along, too fast for the unenhanced eye to see anything other than a wake of deadly sparks.

Iruka didn't really to use this technique so much anymore, not since his own days as an inveterate prankster had come to an end. The _Denshō no Jutsu _was good for covering distances quickly in an urbanized area – useful for escaping authorities after a prank – but the electrical surges caused by its use usually tended to be far greater than most light bulb filaments in the immediate vicinity could handle. As an Academy teacher, he had an example to set for his students.

But he also had a duty assigned to him by the Hokage, his sense of propriety be damned.

Hopefully, at least, the ridiculously early hour would at least be able to keep the damage down to a minimum.

Already that brief thought had been time enough to close with his target, as close as the exposed power grid could bring him. Iruka flipped off the wire to land in a crouch on the empty street, the spray of sparks trailing behind him cutting off as well. Absently, he noted he was very close to Anko's apartment, but simply dismissed it as coincidence; in his mild state of sleep-deprivation, he had forgotten the type of man he had been sent to retrieve.

"You're loud," came a man's voice gruffly above him.

Iruka blinked, and looked up to see a white- haired old man crouching on a tree branch above. In his hands was a vaguely antique-looking spyglass, aimed at an open window ahead.

Curious in spite of himself, Iruka turned to see what he was looking at… and immediately whipped back around, face flaming at the sight of a topless Mitarashi Anko. Desperately hoping, praying his girlfriend hadn't just caught him ogling her like a piece of meat.

"If I had to venture a guess, I'd say you're Umino Iruka, of the clan formerly of Kirigakure," said the white-hair dryly, all without turning his attention away from sight before him.

For an brief instant, Iruka warred between impression at the Toad Sage's knowledge, and insult at the man's blatant indecency. "_You're_ well-informed," he settled on saying, if perhaps a bit more acerbically than normal.

To which Jiraiya merely shrugged with complete nonchalance, "What can I say, it's my job."

Iruka frowned, but let the matter of the man's peeping drop. Kage-level ninja or not, Anko would _kill _him if she ever thought he believed her incapable of defending her own honor. "Hokage-sama wanted to meet with you last night, Jiraiya-sama," he stated. "I've just spent all night searching for you."

Only then did Jiraiya peel his eye away from his spyglass, collapsing it neatly as he dropped down from his branch.

"What's going on?" Jiraiya said, uncharacteristically serious. "If Sensei sent you to find me, it's got to be serious."

Iruka started, caught briefly off guard by the abrupt change in demeanor, but then plowed on ahead anyway. "Orochimaru knows about… It," he answered, refusing to refer to the Kyōkagan by name while there were still potential eavesdroppers around. A smart habit to follow, in a ninja village. "The Hokage intends to brief you on the situation."

Now it was Jiraiya who flinched, followed by a low muttered curse as he turned away. "Didn't expect the bastard to go traipsing through the second exam with the rest of the brats," he griped, more to himself than anything. "Looks like the old man and I are going to have to have a talk, after all."

"The situation is not a favorable one, no," Iruka agreed, a hand rubbing tiredly at the bridge of his nose.

Jiraiya snorted, "Didn't imagine it would be. No telling what that son-of-a-bitch'll do with knowledge like that!" He sighed, "So much for a relaxing vacation in Konoha…"

He turned to go, but all the same couldn't resist one last parting shot. "By the way… D'you enjoy the show?"

The residential district of Konoha found itself in the unusual position of being awakened by the sounds of striking thunder, yet without even so much as a cloud in the morning sky.

* * *

Naruto awoke groaning, feeling the most uncomfortable knots in his back. It felt as though he'd slept on a rock! Blearily, he half-staggered out of the den into the open air, arching backwards to some of the most painful-sounding pops. A few morning stretches, and it at least felt like his whole back wasn't going to cramp up on him any longer. With one last wide yawn, his hands came together in a familiar hand seal.

An exact copy of himself, the clone looked just as tired and grouchy as he himself felt. Too tired to bother with wordy instructions, Naruto just grunted, "Water. Think there's a stream back over that way," he jerked a thumb in the appropriate direction, where his hearing had picked up the sounds of such, late last night. "Don't set off the traps."

The clone nodded, grunting acknowledgement, and briefly retreating into the den for the empty canteens, carefully but quickly wove through the narrow gaps in the traps' coverage before hopping away into the trees. That done, Naruto lumbered back into cover again, a bit more surefooted now that he was waking up, and rummaged through his pack for a ration bar (while at the same time reminding himself to thank Tenten and her father for the pack).

He went through the motions pretty mechanically: break off the part of the bar held in his teeth, chew repeatedly, swallow. Not as good as ramen, not by a long shot, but it probably could have been a lot worse.

Belly full, or at least no longer growling, he made his way back to the entrance, waiting patiently for the clone to return.

It took a long time, long enough for the sun to have visibly moved across the sky. Naruto was beginning to wonder if the clone was even going to come back at all, when it suddenly hopped back into the clearing , multiple dripping-wet canteens of water hanging by the straps over its shoulders. Handing the arrangement back to its creator, the clone wordlessly dispelled itself right after, and Naruto flinched lightly as he was hit with the clone's memories.

Oh, so _that_ was why the clone was taking so long! It hadn't been sure if the water was clean or not, so it had started a fire first to _boil_ it! Well, that was smart; why didn't he think of that?

Wait, why would he need _clean_ water? Unless… oh no.

Naruto shuddered, his gaze drawing itself towards his two fallen teammates; both of them were out cold, which meant… he had to be the one to take care of them until they woke up. Why him…? Another shudder – he obviously didn't want to do this, but he quashed that feeling pitilessly; if he didn't, then who would?

Making another pair of clones, one to assist him and the other to ensure he stuck to the task until was done, Naruto eased up Sasuke's body into a roughly sitting position in order to remove his shirt, and systematically began to clean out the various cuts and scratches the Uchiha had accumulated. All the while grumbling to himself – what the hell did all of those fangirls see in this jerk? It sure as hell wasn't any kind of buff upper body.

Flipping the Uchiha over now to get at the back, he froze at the sight of what was on the other boy's neck. Right next to what looked for all the world like a giant snake bite, two perfectly round and equally sized puncture wounds on the side of his neck, was a mark, almost like a tattoo, really, in the shape like some kind of warped version of the _Mitsudomoe_.

"What the hell?"

A horrified thought struck the boy then. Sasuke must have gotten this thing somehow while he was fighting that snake bastard. But Sakura-chan was fighting him too! What about her?

Practically dumping the Uchiha's body into his clone's arms, he rushed over to his other teammate and rolled her roughly over, scrubbing away at the dried and crusted blood on her neck. _Oh no…_

Sure enough, there was another mark on her neck as well, this one a trio of curved lines radiating out from a central point like a three-petaled flower, or a windmill.

"What did that bastard _do_ to them?" he yelled aloud. Only to freeze, horrified, as another, related thought struck him.

He'd cleaned off Sasuke's body, but Sakura still it as well. Which meant… he was going to have to take off her dress!

_Forgive me, Sakura-chan!_ he prayed, clapping his hands together twice – before steeling himself and doing what needed to be done.

* * *

Jiraiya was not happy, even less so now than when he had entered Konoha. Orochimaru knew, and was now targeting Naruto. No other choices left now; Jiraiya had to step up now for his grandson's safety.

"I'm going to train him," was all he said to the Third Hokage.

Sarutobi smiled knowingly. "I had a feeling you were going to say that. Will the month's break before the third Exam be sufficient?"

The last loyal Sannin smiled back, the expression near-identical. "Gladly."

"What are your intentions?" the Third wondered.

Jiraiya's smile slipped, turning into a frown. "First thing he needs to learn is to not rely on the Kyūbi _or_ the Kyōkagan. Both are extremely detrimental after long-term use. The Seal is designed to slowly break down and filter the Kyūbi's chakra into Naruto's coils, but repeated constant usage of the raw stuff will only wear it down and erode it after enough times. Same damn thing for the Kyōkagan, too – all that warping around, actually changing his own body and organs to match the Limits he's copied? You don't need to be a genius to know what _that'll_ eventually do to someone's mind and sanity if it's overused.

"He needs to learn how to maintain a balance between the two of them constantly. Play one off the other," Jiraiya mused, his eyes far-off as if looking into the distance. "I'm thinking of letting him sign the Toad contract; that should do the job."

Sarutobi hmmed. He spent the time Jiraiya was speaking to fill his pipe with his preferred blend of tobacco and herbs. He lit the mixture with a long-stemmed match; why waste chakra on such a trivial thing?

Sarutobi spent a few puffs getting into the feel of his smoke, before turning back to the matter at hand. "You never did tell me how you know so much of the Kyōkagan, you know," he mused, the smoke forming a ring in front of him as he spoke.

"Believe it or not, I heard about it in Iwagakure," the Sannin answered, leaning forward a bit, as if confiding in the old man. "Not much more than legends, really, but if you look at it from a modern-day perspective, it actually makes a lot more sense."

Jiraiya knew all about _that_ – for the sake of prophecy, he had trained someone who had actually had the Rinnegan , of all things! Jiraiya knew, beyond any shadow of a doubt, just how much merit that old bedtime story actually possessed.

"I see," Sarutobi frown, another small cloud of smoke exhaled with the admission. "Would you tell me about it?"

Jiraiya frowned, "Maybe later. Right now, I'm just more worried about Naruto than anything else."

"Yes," Sarutobi emphatically agreed. " Orochimaru won't dare come near him if he knew you were with him; ego aside, he knows the two of you are still too well matched. Except you and I both know there are ways around even that. I can't help but wonder what his real intentions are."

"Not good, I can tell you that much right now," Jiraiya stated flatly, cutting an arm across his chest with a frown at thoughts of the traitor. "I don't think Naruto was his original target, however."

Sarutobi nodded, eyes closed in thought. "That's what I suspect as well. Naruto-kun was simply a target of opportunity, pure chance. I believe his intended target was likely someone else on Kakashi's team – he wouldn't have bothered even coming close to them otherwise, much less attack them."

"The Uchiha," Jiraiya stated with surety. "Orochimaru always was obsessed with learning all the jutsu in the world – what better way to do that, than having your own Sharingan at your beck and call?" Though that still didn't really make any sense, either – why would Orochimaru risk the possibility of the Uchiha becoming stronger than him? Was he planning on transplanting the Sharingan into his own head, somehow?

Sarutobi nodded, "I agree. The level of secrecy around Sakura's Limit and how it came about is nearly that of Naruto-kun's. It's also not really something Orochimaru would go out of his way for, either – useful and powerful, certainly, but not worth outright invading the village over. No, Uchiha Sasuke as the target is really the only thing that makes any sense."

"So the only question left is: what does he plan to do with him afterwards? Or with Naruto?" Jiraiya said, rubbing tiredly at his forehead. Spymaster or not, all this intrigue was giving him a headache.

To which Sarutobi merely shrugged helplessly, "Only time will tell, I suppose. In the meantime, all we can do is plan, and prepare. Hopefully, we won't have to wait too long before we find out."

* * *

"Dammit," blond cursed as he wrung out the wet cloth before placing it gingerly on Sakura's forehead.

Hours after he had awakened, the two of them had developed high fevers, to Naruto's both annoyance and worry. Since then, all of his attention span was simply focused on making sure the both of them stayed alive. Whimpers would emanate out from one or the other, every so often, though whether it was out of pain or a nightmare, Naruto wasn't sure.

Luckily Sakura had had on a sports bra and shorts under her dress when Naruto had made to clean her off. Hopefully in that case, her anger should be stayed enough that she wouldn't outright murder Naruto once she inevitably found out. Pummel him into unconsciousness, maybe, but not kill.

He hoped.

"You should probably let them be for the moment," a sudden voice suggested sultrily behind him.

Naruto grit his teeth, already irritated beyond words by his bitch of a tenant's refusal to stay back in her cage where she belonged. Though damned if he was going to let her have the satisfaction of seeing that.

"Would you mind going away? Like, for the rest of my life?" he bit out, even though he probably already knew what her comeback was going to be. He turned to see her lounging on a tree root above him, one shoeless foot swinging slightly back and forth as it hung there. Her gaze was actually up into the sky, hands laced behind her head as if she had no care in the world.

As expected, her response was to pout, as if her feelings had actually been hurt by his rejection, "Aww, you sound as though you actually don't want me around." Then that pout reversed itself, becoming a sly – and frankly, more than a little cruel – smile. "It was merely a suggestion, anyway. You need to train in the use of my powers – and I doubt there is much more you can do for your companions than you have already done. As you are now, the thought of what someone like Gaara would do us, should he decide to come out to play, is not a particularly pleasant one."

Naruto scowled. "Fine," he spat, "you have a point. Would you just go, already?"

The Kyūbi's response was to disappear as "asked", but not before giving one of those insufferable smirks of hers. Already Naruto knew she would only be just below the surface, ready and waiting for any other chance she could get to make herself known. He huffed; the she-fox was just as bad as a little kid who wanted nothing but attention.

But nevertheless, she did still have a point, much as it galled him to admit. With both of his teammates down for the count, it fell to him by default to be the one to protect all of them. He didn't really have any choice, but to practice these newfound powers she had been given.

With the utmost reluctance, he stood and, leaving another clone of himself to keep watch over his teammates, left both the hollow and the clearing. By now, navigating the narrow gaps in his traps' coverage was easy, almost second nature.

Now that he thought of it, hadn't he copied some kind of wind jutsu from Orochimaru when they'd fought? So while he was at it, now seemed as good a time as any to test it out.

It took longer than he thought to reach the stream his clone had retrieved the water from – huh, maybe his hearing really _was_ that badass, if he managed to hear it from so far away last night. No one was around, or even close to him, if what his hearing and sense of smell told him. Still, if he happened to run into anybody who _did _turn out to be hostile, he could simply lead them back into all the traps he'd set up. A Jōnin might be able to find his way through all of them without getting seriously hurt, but a Genin? No way!

**"And now that we're here,"** came that smug voice from somewhere in back of his mind, **"try releasing the chakra I've given you. Not **_**too**_** much, mind; we don't want any other teams cluing into where we are, thinking to find easy prey."**

Naruto looked, but for once did not see the stupid furball manifesting herself outside of his subconscious.

"Yeah, whatever…" her muttered, just releasing the chakra as told.

It surprised him to discover just how intense it was. Just a drop in the bucket to what he could feel he was truly capable of, but compared to what he had had before he had discovered the Kyōkagan, this had to be at least three times as powerful.

It felt kind of like those times when he had pushed himself too far during taijutsu practice in the Academy, actually, that burning feeling you get in every corner and crevice of your body when your muscles just can't go any farther without rest – only less pleasant than that. He wasn't really sure he liked that feeling.

**"Alright, that's a good start,"** the Kyūbi instructed. **"Now what you need to do is…"**

* * *

Kabuto sensed far more than heard or saw the arrival of his master. Sure enough, Orochimaru had appeared, crouched slightly on the balls of his feet as though he had just landed in from a Shunshin.

"Feeling better, Orochimaru-sama?" the silver-haired traitor and spy questioned. "Your fight with Umino Iruka was quite the show – your chakra reserves were all but empty at the end of that."

Both stood on the outer edge of the Forest, well away from any prying eyes or accidental discoveries. Night had once again fallen, making it even further difficult to discover them or to track their movements.

"My time in Konoha has been most… informative," Orochimaru grinned oilily. "I originally only entered this farce of an exam in order to provide Sasuke-kun with my mark, only to find an even more wondrous treasure. It seems Naruto-kun is even more spectacular than either of us could have ever predicted, or even envisioned. Of course, Sasuke-kun and Sakura-chan have their own uses, as well."

"They _would_ make some good additions to your elite guard," Kabuto mused agreeingly. "Although I rather doubt Tayuya or the twins would necessarily say the same," he smirked. Those would be the most likely two to be phased out, in membership for the Sound Five. (Four, four, he corrected himself – Kimimaro may ever be in danger of having his position taken from him, but the state he remained in now made him utterly useless for anything Orochimaru-sama wished accomplished.)

"No, membership in that group would actually be a waste of their potential talents," Orochimaru disagreed, amiably but thoughtfully. " They are obsolete, yes, but should something actually happen to Naruto-kun that I can't move to his body, they would make for a good choice of backup containers. Although they _would_ make fine soldiers for me, certainly."

Orochimaru felt almost giddy with the possibilities. His dream to learn all the jutsu in the world could actually truly take place now. Not just jutsu, but Bloodline Limit techniques as well! Nothing would be beyond his grasp!

"Still, nevertheless," he said finally, forcing himself to abandon that pleasant daydream in favor of more immediate concerns, "I cannot help but wonder what might have happened if I had put one of my marks on him. Would Naruto-kun's Limit have reacted to it, or vise versa? What would have happened? For all even I know, I might have even ended up ruining it altogether if I had."

Kabuto nodded, shifting his glasses with a thoughtful look. "Indeed. Transcendent Bloodline Limits are rare, information on them ever rarer. If their numbers weren't so scarcely limited throughout history, we might actually be able to understand them better."

"Which is why we need to approach this carefully," Orochimaru agreed. "One wrong move and we could ruin this entire chance. If it had been any Limit other than one of the Great Three, I might actually be willing to run experiments on it…" he muttered offhandedly.

Kabuto blinked, and then a sly smile creeped out onto his face as a piece of information he had soused out suddenly came to mind. Quickly, he reached into his pockets for his info cards. Quickly searching through them, he eventually retrieved one particular card. its revealed data about a girl Orochimaru had not seen before.

"Well, I realize this person isn't Naruto-kun, nevertheless there are some interesting abilities this girl has that you might like to know about," the spy smirked, handing the card over to his master.

Intrigued, Orochimaru glanced through the data quickly, his curious expression gradually giving way to a particularly gleeful sneer. "Yes, this _should_ be entertaining, at that."

* * *

Shizuka slowly staggered through the wilderness, her arm clutched in pain. She stumbled as her leaden feet tripped over a root, collapsing to the ground with a startled yelp and a stifled cry of pain. This pain might be tolerable for a regular person, but the hyper-sensitive nervous system the Genzōme had afforded her only amplified that sensation to agonizing levels. Even just the natural ache of tired muscles felt more like acid trying to dissolve her from the inside out.

"D-dammit," she gasped, trying to push herself up, only for her arm to give out. The pain as she impacted the soft earth was excruciating; it took all she had, not to scream.

She refused to let it stop her, rolling herself over onto her back slowly over an eternity that probably only lasted a handful of seconds. Vision swimming with pain she stared up into the starry sky, pearlescent eyes easily making out every detail that would have otherwise been obscured by the darkness. One advantage to the Genzōme, at least: Shizuka never had to worry about the possibility of night-blindness.

She wanted to die; yes, dying would be good right about now. If she had known that blond bastard had been holding back _that_ kind of power, she would have prepared a whole lot better beforehand. A tactical error… no, an outright blunder that had almost cost her, her life.

But even so, she was beginning to realize she would never be strong enough to fight the boy head-on; the Genzōme simply just wasn't meant for that. Out of all three Great Dōjutsu, the Genzōme was physically the weakest – a fact that Shizuka had no choice now but to accept.

The Rinnegan and Kyōkagan were beatdown Limits, designed to level whole battlefields with the right ninjutsu. By comparison, the Genzōme was more like a tactical Limit, exploiting the opponents and the battlefield to their fullest possible extent.

Shizuka had been outmatched in that fight from start to finish. She had been goaded into conditions counter to everything she needed to win – whether by that blond bastard or her own anger, it didn't matter. She wouldn't be making that same mistake again.

A sudden, mocking laughter brought her abruptly out of her thoughts as it echoed throughout the trees. "Well, well now, what do we have here?" it wondered creepily, chills running up and down Shizuka's spine .

Shizuka pulled herself upright, as quickly as her battered body would allow, peering everywhere with her rainbow-colored eyes. Her first thought was a genjutsu, but threw out that idea almost immediately: the Genzōme would have effortlessly seen through it. Someone was present – and Shizuka was quickly becoming very tired of her surroundings.

"Are you afraid?" the voice jeered.

Truth be told, she actually was. She wasn't ready for another fight, so soon after her last one, and she knew it. Everything hurt too much, and her chakra stores were almost dangerously low; as she was now, even an ordinary genin team stood far too good a chance of being able to kill her, for her peace of mind. Much less someone as obviously skilled as she was beginning to suspect this was.

But damned if she was going to let _him_ know that. "Oh?" she sneered, hand on hip, her voice sounding much more confident than she actually felt. "And what makes you say that?"

"By the way you're shivering," the voice answered simply, smug amusement in its tone. "Like prey pinned under the gaze of a predator. Will you beg for your life too, like so many others have?"

Shizuka scowled and dropped the confident act, none too pleased with that condescending tone. Now she was just pissed off. "Screw you, bastard," she spat.

She thought she had cast aside those weak emotions a long time ago – fear, pity, compassion, love… All they had ever dome was to hold her back, to keep her from becoming strong. Better to throw them out with the rest of the trash of her old self, so that nothing could stand in her way.

But then that blond bastard had had to go and change everything. The old fears Shizuka had thought she had discarded had come back again, fighting against the power of that other Transcendental Bloodline Limit. Fear of death, fear of failure, fear of _him_… Those feelings had crippled her, just as much as her injuries. Dammit, she did not want to live like this! She wouldn't!

"My, my," a voice whispered, slithering quietly into her ear from right behind her. "Aren't _we_ the little rebellious one?".

Shizuka spun around with knife drawn, but her hand was caught before she could strike her stalker with it. The sight of that pale-skinned hand gripping her arm made her start, and a glance upward, to the nin's face made her own face pale and her blood run cold.

Orochimaru. Formerly one of the Legendary Sannin of Konoha, and now one of the deadliest and most infamous traitors and missing-nin on the face of the continent. Shizuka suddenly could not help but wonder if she was even going to come out of this alive.

"I happen to have a use for you," the would-be snake smiled oilily. "You see, I happen to have this experimental seal I'm working on, and I'm curious as to how it reacts with one of the Transcendental Bloodline Limits. Naruto-kun would have been my first choice, but sadly, I'm more than a little concerned for what that might do to the Kyōkagan. Fortunately for me, _you're_ here instead."

All the remaining color in Shizuka's face fled completely at that, and her struggling increased desperately. Half-accidentally, her eyes locked with his, and Orochimaru abruptly let go of her, startled and surprised as a box formed around him on all four sides, pinned in place and unable to move.

Shizuka gasped in comingled terror and relief; she hadn't meant to fire off that illusion, but it had probably just saved her life nonetheless. She couldn't just let the man go, though, not now that he had flat-out admitted to be targeting her. The only chance she had now would be to kill him before he did whatever it was he was planning with her. Her mind made up, Shizuka reacted into herself for concentration, and an array of swords formed out of the air, surrounding the entrapping box on all sides.

"_Genzō Yonka__: __Muzan no Gunka__,_" she called out. With that mental command, all swords instantly shot forth, impaling the box so that not one square inch of its surface was spared…

But no scream. Illusion or not; his body should have just felt as though it had been run through by a hundred and more blades at once; why weren't there any screams? Shizuka dispelled the illusion immediately, expecting to find a bleeding corpse filled with stab wounds. Instead, all she found was a pile of lifeless mud. She curse, spinning around as she desperately tried to find her attacker. Had that one _always_ been an Earth Clone, or had he replaced himself out with it so fast, even she hadn't been able to follow it?

"Such ruthlessness," Orochimaru's voice chuckled approvingly. Even more chills up surged Shizuka's spine at that; she'd just tried to turn him into ground meat, and he was _praising _her for it? "So much potential in you, I can see, more than any others of these pathetic genin in this equally pathetic wargame."

A hand suddenly reached out and gripped Shizuka's blood-smeared arm from behind, twisting it behind her back as she yelped from the pain. A kunai flashed out before she could react, burying itself in the flesh of her other arm; Shizuka bit down, slamming her teeth and jaw shut to keep from screaming out loud. Streaks of blackness shot through her vision as she fought to keep from blacking out.

"And yet…" that mocking voice told her, "You still lack so much."

Fangs bit into her neck and shoulder, white-hot burning surging through her.

And then there was only screaming.

**Kill Joy no Jutsu (A.K.A. Author's Note):** Yes, another chapter! I'm officially off hiatus now. Writing this, I've built up momentum that I hope lasts me for a while. So there should be a lot writing now.

Okay, the plot is moving along once more. The last chapter was more of a filler (admit it, though, you loved the battle) as I was having issues with time and didn't feel like going deep into the plot, though I did plan for an Iruka/Orochimaru fight for a long time. The next chapters should keep the story going.

We're coming close to the prelims of the Chūnin Exams, which will lead to some interesting developments. Naruto is going to be without the Kyōkagan for a while, Sasuke has gotten the Cursed Seal of Heaven, and Sakura now has the Cursed Seal of Earth. This is going to be good. I think I'll keep the matches the same for the most part, but you never know if I decide to change things up.

Shizuka's fate will be revealed in the next chapter.

I have two new techniques here today, so here's the…

**Forbidden Scroll of Techniques:**

_Denshō no Jutsu_ 「電乗の術」– Electric Rider Technique  
Ninjutsu – C-Rank, Clan Technique  
An original Hyakurai technique created by Umino Iruka during his youth, which uses electromagnetism to adhere one's feet to a metallic surface, essentially an electricity-based version of the basic tree- and water-walking chakra exercises. Due to the relative scarcity of metal being used as an outer construction material, typically the technique is restricted to use on telephone and power lines, where electricity's natural tendency to flow in a single direction causes the user to be drawn along as well in the direction of the electric current.

However, because electrons flow at speeds far faster than the human body can safely manage, the user is simultaneously forced to create an electromagnetic "drag" upon themselves, slowing themselves down to a much safer and more easily controlled speed. This drag effect usually manifests in the form of large sparks spraying out from the user's point(s) of contact with the electrified wire, as well as fluctuations in the electrical current – surges – that can and often will overload any active electrical devices within range of the user (roughly about 6 meters/20 feet); light bulbs, especially, are most susceptible to this.

Originally created as a quick means of escape after being caught during his pranks, since becoming a teacher at the Ninja Academy, Iruka has chosen not to use this technique any longer unless absolutely necessary, as the property damage often caused in the wake of this technique – burns caused by the electrical sparks, damaged electrical appliances and exploded light bulbs within homes – contradicts the example that he tries to set for his students.

_Genzō Yonka: Muzan no Gunka_「幻像四歌・無残の軍歌」– Illusory Four Songs: War Song of Tragedy  
Genjutsu – Low S-Class  
The first and weakest of a series of illusory techniques created by the famed On Jizenka, this attack is as much a battle strategy as it is an actual technique.

The key to its success lies in the act of slowly stripping away the opponent's ability to fight, restricting their senses through a combination of taijutsu, genjutsu, and, if available, assorted traps, while at the same time herding the opponent into a certain position. Once this state has been achieved, the opponent maneuvered into a position where they are left unable to resist, the attack then culminates in a powerful coup-de-grâce that most often results in the complete burnout of the opponent's synaptic pathways; even if death does not occur instantaneously, the opponent is still left in a near-permanent vegetative state, incapable of anything more than the most unconscious of actions such as breathing, and thus unable to defend themselves should the user decide to finish the job.

It should be noted, however, that this technique also poses significant risk to the user as well. Because of the ever-changing circumstances by which the genjutsu can be used to restrict the opponent's senses, mental flexibility on the user's part and the ability to multitask is absolutely paramount, lest they run the risk of capturing _themselves _within the technique as well, and thus suffering the same physiologically detrimental effects as the opponent. For that reason, this technique is most often used in single combat only, where the variables to have to account for are significantly less, however especially skilled users at this technique have been known to be able to eliminate whole squads of ninja simultaneously.

Shizuka's possession of the Genzōme, however, makes her a rare exception to these weaknesses. Because of the heightened perception, granted to her by that Transcendental Bloodline Limit, as well as the ability to cast genjutsu using nothing more than eye contact, she is in the unique position where most of the dangers inherent in this technique – the chance of having to divide one's attention too many ways, as well as constantly having to cast and alter genjutsu on the fly – are not in fact a threat to her. It is still possible for her to fall prey to those same dangers, however the chances of actually doing so have been significantly lessened.


	17. Flower Heaven, Crazy Bone

**Chapter 17- Flower Heaven, Crazy Bone**

It was early morning in Konoha, at least another hour or more before dawn. And like every day since his re-ascension to Hokage, Sarutobi arrived to work early, hoping to get such a head start on his paperwork that he might be able to have the rest of the day off afterwards. (An extreme rarity, granted, but possible nonetheless.)

Strolling casually into his office, he was pleasantly surprised to find only a small pile of forms stacked neatly to one corner of his desk. Mildly grinning at thoughts of a certain orange book in his near future, Sarutobi almost skipped to his seat. Today looked to be a great day.

…At least until both his office doors suddenly slammed open, rattling the room with such force that those papers spilled out onto the floor, whatever organization they may have had now utterly lost.

The aged Hokage blinked, and then looked up, his sudden irritation well-masked behind a veneer of innocent curiosity. What idiot would actually be foolhardy enough to _dare_ step into _his_ office and so brazenly scatter _his_ pap—

Then Sarutobi's would-be tirade cut off, as soon as his eyes met the insignia on the intruder's headband – not Konoha, that was Hakubo's symbol. He did not immediately recognize the woman herself – red hair, the kind of black dress popular among joint genjutsu/seduction specialists, Hidden Twilight plate tied around her left bicep. Sarutobi realized right away this must be the Tsusuka girl's relative, and probably sensei – even without the insignia, there was simply too much resemblance between them to be anything _but_ related.

Perched on either shoulder was a praying mantis, one twice the size as the other. Sarutobi mentally raised a eyebrow at that; this was the current holder of the Mantis contract? Well, well.

"May I help you?" Sarutobi asked politely yet casually, purposefully ignoring the newfound disarray of his office. Where in the hell were his ANBU, anyway?

"You may," was her equally blithe answer. "My student – my niece – has just been kidnapped."

Ah, so that affirmed that suspicion, the Hokage nodded. A maternal relation, most likely – she hardly resembled the pictures he'd seen of Tsusuka Retsu…Wait, what?

"'Kidnapped'?" echoed Sarutobi incredulously. During the _Chūnin Exams_, with every country and their _summons_ scrutinizing every last detail? Who on earth would possibly be so brazen as to—

"Yes, kidnapped," the redhead repeated, teeth clenched in an obvious effort to keep from breaking down and screaming. "By Orochimaru."

Sarutobi felt his gut turn to ice, followed by his face twisting into an angry, snarling scowl of his own even as he bit back his own string of curses. Orochimaru. Of course. It figured, the cynical part of himself commented. Bad enough that his traitorous ex-student intended obvious ill for his once-homeland, but to drag other Villages' shinobi into his depravities as well?

_I should have killed him when I had had the chance…_

Expression sharply focused, Sarutobi leaned back into his chair, mind working to incorporate this new information.

This… didn't make any sense, actually. Why would Orochimaru suddenly take such interest in obscure Bloodline Limits? The last he had ever spoken with his renegade disciple – such as that had been – the snake-master had claimed his ultimate goal simply to be mastery over all of the jutsu in the world. Even his hideous research into immortality was but an extension of that: a means to ensure that he lived long enough that he _could_ learn so many techniques.

Even the attack on Team 7 perfectly fit that context – the Sharingan, with its power to instantly memorize physical movements such as hand seals, and then later the Kyōkagan, once the snake had learned of its existence, were ideal for such a task.

But the Genzōme… what possible good could something like _that_ do? Oh, it was powerful, certainly – one of the Three Great Dōjutsu, no less – but it was genjutsu-based, worthless for Orochimaru's stated purpose. What on earth was the man up to?

"_Well?_" Jizenka urged, almost hysterically. She could see the Hokage was working furiously to figure this out, but this was her niece, her family! The only family she had left! She _needed to know_!

Sarutobi tuned her out for the moment, thinking furiously. This was… not pleasant news. And that on top of all the _other_ unpleasant news he already had to deal with.

The latest intelligence reports he had received – Jiraiya's, chief among them – strongly hinted at increased covert operations within the Hidden Villages of Sand and Sound. That was worrisome: such obvious secretiveness was a clear-cut sign that they intended something… big. The kind of "big" that usually tended to start Great Shinobi World Wars.

Somehow, Sarutobi doubted that Orochimaru's sudden reemergence was _just_ a coincidence.

The aged Kage finally sighed, looked up from his slouched posture to meet Jizenka's eyes. "I apologize. As you've probably noticed, we've been having some… difficulties with Orochimaru ourselves, lately."

The Twilight kunoichi snorted, obviously recognizing the old man's weak attempt at levity for what it was. "I've noticed. One of my summons here," she indicated the larger of the two mantises on her shoulder, this one a bright purplish-pink color, "has quite the details of his romp through that forest of yours. One thing in particular kind of stood out, though… what was it again? Oh yes," she mock-wondered, before narrowing her eyes at him again, all playful banter gone completely from her tone. "Something about a pair of _silver eyes_."

For a half-instant, Sarutobi could have sworn that his heart had stopped. _She knows!_ he realized frantically, barely able to keep any expression from showing on his face. Then the feeling stopped. Outed or not, he still had a part to play.

"Silver… eyes?" he blinked, the picture of innocent confusion; anyone else would have been taken in by his performance.

"Don't play dumb with me, Hokage-_san_," Jizenka snarled, the less respectful honorific spat out like a curse, patience finally gone. That the man in front of her was one of the most powerful shinobi in recent history didn't matter a damn anymore; all that mattered was her niece, and the obstructionism that this bastard was putting up between them. "I already know for a damned fact this village has one of the Great Dōjutsu! Obviously, you're trying to keep this 'Kyōkagan' of yours secret for as long as possible, and you know what? I don't blame you. But when that puts itself in the way between me, and the only family I have left…?

"Let me explain to you, Hokage, in _clear_ detail, _exactly_ what my summon saw happen yesterday…"

* * *

Naruto sighed, not for the last time. How much longer did he have to stay in this damned forest?

He was worried about the teme and Sakura-chan. If anything, their conditions just kept getting worse. They were already both running high fevers, and thrashing around in their sleep. At this rate, he may even have to leave the forest to get them medical attention, and to hell with this exam!

A grimace, and then he put that train of thought to the side, focusing on other matters. He'd needed that training yesterday. Getting control of the Fox's chakra had been anything but easy; as things stood now, his chakra reserves were probably three times the size as normal, which in turn made his already normally crappy chakra control even worse. He'd basically had to start all over again from square one!

Still, the techniques he had at his disposal now – or would, soon enough – were pretty cool. Releasing actual shockwaves through your punches – that kind that left giant craters behind wherever you hit – _rocked_!

"When we get out of here," he mused, half giddy with the prospect, "I am _so_ gonna kick Kakashi-sensei's ass for giving us those stupid papers!" He almost giggled with the thought.

Pleasant (though unlikely) images completed, Naruto was about to descend back into silence once more, only for an explosion to rip throughout the forest. The blond flinched, surprised, and then whipped around towards it – the first level of his traps had just gone off. The realization was slow in reaching him; if not for the second tier going off as well, back-to-back explosion, he might not have even realized it at all. But it had, and it did, and now it had his _undivided _attention.

Then the third round detonated, and suddenly Naruto was wondering if all his preparations were going to be enough. Three… _four_ explosions now, back to back to back? And whoever it was, was still ali— _FIVE?_

(Just as suddenly, Naruto wondered if maybe he needed to write his team some IOUs for all the tags he had, er, borrowed. It was actually kind of scary, how many Sasuke had had on him – who knew the Uchiha was such a pyromaniac?)

Even as he drew a pair of kunai while springing to his feet, Naruto kept his eyes fixed on the farthest edge of the clearing, the most likely spot, going by all the explosions, where his target was going to appear.

The sixth explosion, the last line of defense before the clearing itself, was fully visible through the tree cover. Dust, smoke, and debris flew in, some lone, shrouded figure walking calmly into the clearing. Naruto's grips tightened, wondering; too tall to be Shizuka, and the last he knew, Orochimaru was out an arm.

Then he could see. It was a young man, not that much older than him, but very sickly-looking. The skin was almost corpse-pale (maybe he didn't get out much?), against a pair of piercing green eyes and shoulder-length silver-white hair. In the middle of his forehead were two largish red circles, that same color lining the underneath of his eyes; they kind of reminded Naruto of the tattoos the Inuzukas had, actually. Similar idea?

Still, nothing good could come of this, Naruto just knew it. How the guy was looking him up and down, as if sizing him up, just added to that feeling.

"You are Uzumaki Naruto?" the pale boy spoke finally, his tone as much a statement as a question.

"What? You got some kinda vendetta against me, too?" the blond bit out, pointing threateningly with one kunai as the rest of him shifted into a beginning _Kaiken_ stance.

The boy, whoever he was, was clearly unimpressed, simply standing there with his arms hung loosely at his sides. "I am Kimimaro. I was ordered to find you," was all he said.

Naruto scowled; he was liking this less and less. "Ordered… by whom?"

"Orochimaru-sama," again was his blunt answer, not even bothering to conceal his allegiance. "He desires for you to duplicate my Bloodline Limit, the _Shikotsumyaku_ of the Kaguya clan. It is to be a gift from my master."

Naruto's blood ran cold. That this guy had just openly declared his loyalty to the snake freak was one thing, but to talk so nonchalantly about offering up his own Bloodline Limit, like it wasn't even _important_…

Coldness turned red-hot, a sick angry tightness in his breast that made him want to vomit at what he was hearing. It was ironic, really. A week ago, he would have probably taken up that offer with a smile on his face. Now however, the merest fact that Orochimaru, sick freak that he is, actually _wanted_ him to do so made him sick to his stomach. Especially now that he didn't even _have_ the Kyōkagan to begin with, suppressed into dormancy as it was so that he could heal form its overuse.

"And if I said 'no'?" the blond snarled, crimson eyes narrowing dangerously.

For a brief moment, nothing happened, Kimimaro merely standing there with an inscrutable gaze. Then…

A sickening, tearing noise, as the Kaguya's arms both spasmed, a violent twitch so intense that the bones in both forearms _snapped_, the jagged ends literally tearing their way out of the flesh of his underarms. Naruto flinched back in horror, the bile surging to his throat before he could realize: there was no blood. No blood, and even as he watched, those spurs jutting out below his wrists were growing longer, lengthening, changing shape.

A Body Manipulation Limit, the realization flashed across the Jinchūriki's mind. _Corpse Bone Pulse,_ the power to control his own bones, grow them however he wanted. Already in less than a minute, the previous breaks were healed cleanly, not even torn skin left to show for them as the Kaguya now brandished a pair of wicked-looking bone daggers in either hand.

And this guy wanted him to copy that…

No, _Orochimaru_ wanted him to copy it. That thought alone was enough to stop the building desire in him cold. His own blades, the grips loosening as he had watched, he gripped tightly again, the cloth and metal creaking as he squeezed.

"I am afraid you do not have a choice in this matter," was Kimimaro's calm, nay, emotionless reply.

"F%#& you!" Naruto roared, hurling one of those kunai into a cluster of leaves on the ground.

A cluster that held an exploding tag at its bottom, the central trigger for the chain reaction that covered the entire field. Kimimaro did not move, did not have the _time_ to move before the earth below him was consumed in the fireball.

* * *

Ino flinched, pulling up short as the sound of an explosion tore throughout the forest.

"What was that?" Chōji started, bag of chips completely forgotten in his surprise.

Team 10 had just finished futilely hiding from Hyūga Neji (whom Ino had proclaimed the creepiest person on the planet). Rather pathetically, they had hoped to escape the Hyūga's line of sight, only to find that the Byakugan wasn't blocked by solid objects.

It wasn't until after they had prepared to flee that the sound reached their ears.

"Troublesome," was Shikamaru's automatic response. "Sounded like an explosion." After all, there weren't that many things that a sound like that _could_ be. And, sure enough, a plume of smoke was rising from the direction the sound had come from.

"I think we need to go check it out," Ino stated.

"Tch," Shikamaru snorted, turning an lazily annoyed look on the blonde. "The last time we decided to 'check it out', we got to watch a good-sized chunk of the forest get blown up. I don't know about you, but I happen to like staying in one piece." As if to punctuate his claim, the lazy Nara turned in the opposite direction as the smoke plume and made to leave. But before he could get more than five steps, he was dragged back by the scruff of his jacket collar, _toward_ the danger zone.

"Oh, hell no!" the shrill Yamanaka practically screeched, the sound almost enough to make the Nara want to cover his ears. "What if we get lucky and get a scroll? Come on, Chōji! We're going!"

Unsurprisingly, the Akimichi obliged. Shikamaru couldn't really blame the boy; Chōji always was too nice for his own good. And combined with Ino's overbearing personality, well…

"Troublesome," was all the Nara was willing to put forth the effort to say.

* * *

Kimimaro had been devastated to learn of his fatal illness. With that, his whole purpose for being had been undone – Orochimaru-sama's chosen vessel could not afford to have any flaw or weakness at all, and his was now destroying itself from the inside out. Even Kabuto, the master's right hand, could do nothing for him; his physiology, thanks to his Bloodline Limit, was just too different, too alien. Soon, he would no longer even have the strength to rise from his own bedroll each morning.

More than death, it was the thought of powerlessness, of uselessness to his master that terrified the last remaining Kaguya. Desperately he hoped, prayed, for some mission, some act that he could perform, to one again prove his worth.

Then the message had come, telling him of Orochimaru-sama's need for him. Without hesitation or delay, or even a second thought, he had rushed immediately to Konoha, the pain of his disease outright forgotten in his haste to please the traitor Sannin. Upon his arrival, his master had quickly outlined what he had discovered: a Bloodline Limit capable of duplicating _other_ Limits perfectly. No degradation of capability, no limit on how long it could be used, as though the bearer of this unique super-Limit had been born naturally with all of the Limits he copied.

Kimimaro had known immediately and without being told, why he had been summoned: he was to offer up his _Shikotsumyaku_ to this new intended vessel. Even in his own death, he continue to be of use to Orochimaru-sama. That was enough.

He had to see them. Kimimaro had no desire greater at this moment than see these glorious eyes that Orochimaru-sama had described for him – Kyōkagan, the master had named it.

But for this boy, this insignificant speck to deny the wonderful gift his master have given them both… Such impudence was not to be tolerated.

* * *

The last Kaguya could feel the heat of the explosions lashing about him, fragments of debris impacting against his skin and ruined clothing. It did not matter. Beneath that skin was a nigh-impenetrable layer of calcified bone, impervious to such minor damage. Still, he was impressed by the viciousness of the boy's layered defense; if not for that very same subcutaneous protection, it was entirely possible he might not have survived to make it this far.

The smoke cleared, and he could see the blond child's eyes wide with momentary shock. An expression that quickly steeled itself, however, a second kunai already in hand to replace the one thrown. Kimimaro had to give credit where it was due; few were capable of looking at him with such force… though that would change soon enough.

Naruto scowled, glaring. All the time and effort he had put into making those defenses – defenses that had impressed even the Kyūbi, that he didn't think even Hokage-jijii could break! – and they had failed miserably. That pissed him off!

Well, at least it hadn't failed_ completely_ – even under the burnt clothing, Naruto could see patches of equally charred skin, and the white bone revealed just underneath. Using his Bloodline Limit to make a hidden layer of armor under his skin, nice touch.

Still, it pissed him off. Even now, he could see the skin healing, the missing patches of it growing smaller as he watched.

"Kyūbi," he whispered with minimal lip movement, not enough for Kimimaro to catch.

In an instant, she was behind him; by now, Naruto knew her presence well enough to not even need to turn his head to look.

"I know what you intend," she said; Naruto could imagine her crossing her arms between her ample chest. "You already know my answer."

Naruto shut his eyes, resigned. "Please."

"Is that all you have to offer?" Kimimaro said dispassionately, eying Naruto analytically. "If so, then I fear for my master. I had been expecting something… more."

Even through his unease, Naruto smiled, as dangerous as he could in the face of his opponent. "Sorry. I just wanted to make sure you were cut out for fighting me." Then his face turned serious as he focused on the vixen behind him. "I'm not good enough with your powers yet," he whispered quietly to her. "He'd wipe the floor with me."

Kimimaro stood there for a moment, then reached to tear away the charred remains of his shirt. The fabric, now only so much blackened ash, crumbled without resistance. The pants, made of much sturdier material, had weathered the explosions much better, but even they were torn as spikes of bone erupted from the points of his knees and elbows, causing Naruto's face to pale slightly with the barest hint of fear.

"_Please?_" he pleaded, now openly desperate as older boy advanced slowly on him, ready for battle.

"_No._" Aggravation could almost be felt seeping from the vixen's voice. "Your body is too damaged. I _will not_ allow it." A small smirk tugged at her lips. "But if you don't think you have enough power, you could always call on more of mine."

Then the time for conversation was over as Kimimaro charged. In nearly an instant, the Kaguya had closed the distance between them; Naruto barely had time to flinch before his opponent was upon him. Before Naruto could even register the first attack, twenty-six debilitating (though not fatal) cuts had already been inflicted, from down across his legs up to his face. Then Kimimaro kicked him in the gut, the force of the impact hurling the boy away into the air.

The blond landed roughly, rolling bodily before he came to a stop, coughing up blood as he staggered even to his hands and knees. Glaring angrily, he rose slowly… then almost tripped as he did, his left knee spasming with the onslaught of pain. Only after reaching a full stand did he wipe the blood from his lips.

"I fear for my master," Kimimaro repeated, the blades in his hands dissolving to bone dust as he withdrew his chakra from them. "He spoke so highly of you, yet I am not impressed. You have not even shown me this… Kyōkagan."

Naruto's eyes widened. But even as the realization that Orochimaru was spreading around his precious secrets penetrated, that shock turned into a deep , dark anger, a hideous rage, as a feral snarl bubbled up from the depths of his throat. Black pupils, set into crimson irises, elongated into slits, even as he returned consciously to stance.

Steam rose from his wounds as inhuman chakra filled them. Now it was Kimimaro's turn to be surprised, as those wounds knitted together and closed before his eyes, not even scars left behind to show their passage. The Kaguya's expressed shifted, mildly impressed, but still not yet enough to approve.

Naruto's roared curse was drowned out, as his fist punched the air with enough released chakra to outright warp it, a concussive wave erupting from the punch to race towards the Kaguya.

Kimimaro's eyes widened fractionally at the subtle display of raw power, before he crossed both arms in order to block. It was like being struck by the angry fist of a war god; even through his block he was still lifted up off the ground where a slammed bodily into a tree, hard enough that much the wood exploded into splinters with the impact. Little more than a grunt escaped the Kaguya's lips as he peeled himself free, a new pair of blades already growing from the palms of his hands – this one had much more fight in him than he had given him credit for.

A glance up, and the sight of boiling, bloody-red chakra coiling about the blond, almost physical in the way dust and debris was being gouged out of the ground around him. The spiky blond hair was becoming even messier, the nails and eye-teeth lengthening into claws and fangs; the almost whisker-like birthmarks deepening, darkening into full stripes, only adding to that growing menacing look.

Half-instinctually, Kimimaro raised his blades to ward himself from the sight. This had become… interesting.

* * *

"Ino, this is not a good idea!" Shikamaru almost shouted, suddenly feeling the oppressive chakra in the air.

The only redeeming quality of the moment was that it forced the bossy blonde to let go of his vest.

Chōji stopped munching on his chips as he looked about with a fear written on his face. The feeling was nauseating enough for him to warrant a hold on eating until further notice.

Ino looked off to where she felt the source. "What _is_ that?" she asked herself offhandedly.

"Don't know, don't care!" Shikamaru said hurriedly. "Now can we get out of here before it comes to kill us!"

Oh, she was fearful. But there was curiosity. Every fiber of her being screamed for retreat; every nerve almost shattered under the foulness the air carried. Yet, she wondered: What kind of monster could produce this kind of power? Whose side was it on? What if someone needed their help because of it?

Against her better judgment, she ran towards the source.

"What the – Damn it, Ino!" Shikamaru shouted as he gave chase. _This entire situation is too damn troublesome! We shouldn't have signed those papers…_

Chōji swallowed the lump in his throat as he ran after his teammates.

* * *

She cackled, like a madwomen that burned cities for a personal joke. It was so funny to her that she had to lean on her prison's bars for support. The Kyūbi couldn't care less if her container heard the mirth that carried through the sewer that was his mind.

It was _too_ easy! On instinct alone, Naruto drew upon increasingly larger amounts of her chakra. And all she did the day before was teach him the basics of drawing upon her chakra and one stupid attack! By the gods, she wasn't even trying to force herself onto him!

Even after calming down, the massive vixen continued to grin.

"That's right you brainless monkey," she growled. "Let me give you strength. Thirst for my power, and I'll overfill your cup. And then, when you need every drop, I'll claim the reins."

She retreated back into the darkness. Time to play her part…

* * *

Kimimaro was the first to charge only to immediately slow as Naruto roared, unleashing an ungodly amount of chakra into the air. Not even a second after the torrent of wind and chakra died away, Naruto reappeared above him, a fist of glowing red chakra pulled back. Kimimaro could feel his jaw crack as the knuckles made contact, easily matching Jirōbō's strength.

But the hit left the blond open. Using what little time he was granted, Kimimaro swung a palm sword downward gashing Naruto across the shoulder. The demon container landed on all fours as the wound healed and then rolled out of the way as a sword stabbed downward. A kick was sent into Kimimaro's head – further cracking his jaw bone – followed by a shockwave that sent the white-haired teen rolling across the ground.

What let-up Kimimaro expected was thrown aside as Naruto jumped after, another chakra charged punch pulled back. The Kaguya flipped backwards in the nick of time as Naruto's attack scattered debris, and countered with a charge. Naruto roared, halting the attack as a concussive wave ripped through the air and stripped the trees of their leaves.

Kimimaro lowered his hands as the sound wave suddenly stopped only to be greeted with the hardest punch yet, one that finally broke his jaw. Orochimaru's servant skipped across the ground until he was abruptly stopped by a large rock.

Naruto roared again, this time in victory.

At the peak of his unleashed anger, Naruto felt a hand wrap around his chest.

"Calm down, Naruto-kun," whispered a sultry voice in his ear. "You don't want to pay the price for my chakra, right?"

The Kyūbi slowed the amount of chakra she was feeding Naruto and felt the boy relaxing. His breathing, although still heavy, slowed as his irises rounded, his hair became neater, and his birthmarks narrowed.

"Wha…" Naruto attempted to say, disoriented from the loss of power.

"You delved too deeply," the Kyūbi answered, leaning even closer to his ear. "It isn't necessary to go that far, not for this… ingrate."

She kissed Naruto's cheek with the softest touch. The emotion that sprung afterwards was sweeter than words could describe – and a part of him wanted more – but he knew better. The bitch was merely playing him again.

Pushing aside his personal – for the lack of a better word – _problems_, he watched as Kimimaro rose up, looking as if no damage had befallen; even his broken jaw was fixed. Naruto growled. Cockroaches had nothing on this guy's resilience!

"My Bloodline Limit gifts me with absolute control over my skeletal structure," explained Kaguya as the bone swords retracted back into his body. "Not only that, my bones are harder than steel."

"You've got to be kidding me," muttered Naruto, suddenly realizing why it was so arduous to damage the Limit user.

There was an entire armor of harder-than-steel bone just under his skin. And whatever damage he did receive was promptly healed.

Maybe he should've continued using more of the Kyūbi's chakra…

"It would be in your best interest to copy my Limit," Kimimaro calmly suggested.

"Uh, no," Naruto curtly countered.

"Then I see that I still need to convince you."

Kaguya raised up both his hands, giving Naruto a chance to watch as sharpened bones popped out of his fingers – he was at least kind of enough to give Naruto a chance to dodge. Satisfied, he aimed his fingertips at the whiskered-boy.

Naruto had an idea where this was going.

On instinct, Naruto flared his chakra, causing a cloud of red chakra to envelop him. As the bone bullets came near he disappeared in a blur, the area he formerly stood becoming ravaged by Kimimaro's attack.

He reappeared in the air above the Kaguya, engulfed in chakra like a lit match. Forming the ram seal, thirty blonds appeared out of the smoke diving at Kimimaro. The Oto-nin spun around and sniped several that came too close. The others landed even as their brethren were peppered and futilely tried to rain blows upon Kimimaro. His bone bullets easily pounded through the orange wave, occasionally piercing multiple clones. He calmly moved his hands about, attacking from behind, forward, and to the sides simultaneously.

Silence reigned as the last blond took a bone bullet through the head. Looking about, keeping his hands raised in case of a surprise attack, Kimimaro scanned for his target. He spun, only to lightly grimace as he saw a flash of orange retreat into the woods. Knowing it was useless now, he retracted the bones in his fingers. He knew what the blond was doing – Uzumaki wasn't the first. Cover was the best protection from his _Teshi Sendan_.

Just as he moved to give chase, Kimimaro harshly coughed into his hand. The coppery taste in his mouth wasn't unnoticed. Pulling his hand away, he saw several red droplets in his palm. A grimace traced his face.

Even as the disease ravaged his body, he calmly walked into the thicket of trees.

* * *

Anko sighed as she stood outside of Iruka's apartment. She raised a hand to knock on his door, only to pull it back. With a frown, she tried to knock again, only to pull back again.

_Gods, why am I being so shy!_ Anko mentally shouted, pulling her hair and clenching her teeth. _Normally, I'd be kicking the door down, demand that he let me in, or something like that. No. Instead, I'M BEING F_%#&_ING SHY LIKE A STUPID TEENAGE GIRL! If anyone from the T and I Department saw me like this my reputation would be ruined!_

She took several calming breaths, though the butterflies in her stomach made it difficult.

Wait… When the hell did she _ever_ get butterflies in her stomach? Damn it! This entire situation was a pain in the ass! When did she become so… _lovesick_?

Anko came under the pretense of questioning Iruka about his abilities and to distract herself from current happenings. And maybe she'd slip in something about a date somewhere in the conversation. But the longer she stood near the door, the more nervous she became.

"Oh, I give-" she tried to say, only for the door to be opened by Iruka as he rubbed some sleep from his eyes.

"Whassup?" he asked with a yawn, wearing trousers and white shirt.

_SHIT!_ Anko mentally screamed. "How'd you know I was here?" she quickly asked.

"Bioelectricity," he deadpanned.

"Oh, yeah," Anko chuckled nervously. Shouldn't she have known better? Damn those emotions! "Did I, uh, wake you up?"

Iruka shook his head. "Nah, I just barely got up. I feel much better, though. Man, I hate chakra exhaustion… Every time I use that technique I always end up being out of it for a couple days."

The snake mistress knew which jutsu he referred to. That crazy charged-particle-thingy cannon he used. If only it succeeded in frying her _ex_-sensei…

"I know how it feels," Anko quietly agreed. With a deep breath, she continued. "Hey, uh, I know you're probably hungry. With how much chakra you used up, I imagine you'll probably eat more than Naruto."

As if in agreement, Iruka's stomach went off, eliciting a nervous laugh from the chūnin. "Yeah, food sounds really nice."

"How 'bout Ichiraku's on me?" suggested Anko, feeling famished herself.

"I would like that."

Briefly, the butterflies in Anko's stomach came back with vengeance, but she quickly squashed them. It wasn't like this was a date…

After Iruka changed, the pair walked to Ichiraku's. Unfortunately, it was an uncomfortable and silent walk. The events of the past couple days were too fresh in their minds to forget, a lingering sentiment left unburied. It was a failure that would forever haunt them. Their mission was simple: protect someone precious to them. They failed it miserably. What they needed to do now, where they needed to go from there, was still lost on them.

It was a relief when the ramen stand came into view, allowing a momentary reprieve from their worries.

"Hey, what can I get you two?" Ichiraku greeted his two regulars.

"I'm going to need more than the usual," Iruka jovially told him, taking a seat at the counter. "I'm suffering from chakra exhaustion and I've got quite the appetite."

Ichiraku laughed lightly. "Of course, I've got just the thing for that. How 'bout you Anko?"

"Usual," she answered, taking her own seat near Iruka.

"Alright, I'll get right on it," he happily told them.

The two sat in awkward silence.

Finally, it got on Anko's nerves. "So, about that whole blue… lightning… thing. What was that?"

Iruka smiled as he answered, glad for the distraction. "That's actually somewhat of a peculiarity in my clan. In the Umino clan, only the strongest with the highest electrical capacity can use blue lightning." Anko's continued curiosity urged him to continue. "The difference is simply in the charge. You see, regular purple lightning carries a negative charge, but blue lightning carries a positive charge which helps to increase its power and density."

"Wow, it sounds so… complicated," Anko noted, feeling her brain exploding from what little information he shared.

It only served to make Iruka laugh. "Ah, but I just covered the very basics; we haven't even gotten into electromagnetism."

"Screw that," Anko shot, serving to make Iruka's laughter louder.

"Here you guys go," Ichiraku interrupted, setting down Iruka's incredibly large order of ramen and Anko's usual helping of dango. "Enjoy."

Iruka quickly dug in. Anko, on the other hand, paused as the dumpling came close to her mouth. Suddenly, she didn't feel so hungry. With a deep sigh, she laid her sweet back on the plate, eliciting a worried glance from Iruka.

Her look saddened as the events of the past couple days replayed.

She hadn't been able to sleep. Every time she closed her eyelids, her traitorous sensei's snake-like visage was staring back. Nightmares of the horrible experiments he'd perform on Naruto and the destruction he'd wrought on Konoha made her wake in a cold sweat. The memories of his cold laughter sent chills up her spine, like the touch of a frozen, skeletal hand tracing her back. And she was still too weak fulfill her personal vendetta.

She was snapped out of her thoughts as Iruka gently placed a hand on her shoulder. Anko slowly turned towards him, finding an uncharacteristically serious face on what was only known as a kind-hearted mask.

"We'll protect him," Iruka quietly told her as to not attract attention. "Even if we have to fight the world, we'll protect him."

Anko turned her glazed eyes to her food, but it long lost its appeal. Tears prickled on the edges of her eyes, a sensation she never thought she'd feel again.

Gods, when did she cry last? Didn't she promise herself to stop crying after _he_ left?

"I'm too weak…" she quietly whispered, the words being the bitterest thing to past her lips. "Even when _he_ came back… I… I was so useless. I'm not strong enough…"

Iruka's grip on her shoulder tightened. "Don't say that. You're one of the strongest people I've ever met. You've been through things that would've broken other people; you survived."

"But it's not enough," she quietly countered. "I… Just when I finally have something important to protect, _he_ comes and ruins everything. And it's all because I'm not strong enough. "

Iruka realized hidden deep down where nobody could see it, Anko was more human that she led everyone to believe. She'd tasted the bitterness of loneliness and hid behind a façade, just like Naruto – that's why the two connected so quickly; they understood each other. And when she finally gained acceptance, it was being threatened and now – more than ever before – she wanted the power to protect everything precious to her.

Anko turned to him, a steeled gaze forming. It was a look he was familiar with, one he'd seen only on one face, one fitted with mirror-like eyes and a perpetual grin. Naruto was rubbing off on Anko.

"Train me," she calmly ordered.

Iruka gazed at her, as if looking for any hesitation in Anko's soul. Slowly, his lips turned upwards in a calm smile.

"I thought I was going to have to ask," he told her humorously.

* * *

Naruto pressed his back to a tree, the shadows masking his presence and the dark clothes he wore aiding his cause (he reminded himself to thank Iruka and Anko for the change of clothes). The only memento of his presence was his blood-red, slitted eyes.

His sensitive ears picked up the sounds of Kimimaro's feet crunching decaying leaves. With his sensitive nose, Naruto was able to discover his assailant's position. Roughly twenty feet away…

"I'm offering you a gift," Kimimaro told the air, knowing well that Naruto was listening intently. "Why do you not wish to accept it?"

He was curious. If Kimimaro offered his Limit to anyone else, there would've been no hesitation. Yet, this boy, carrying an ultimate power, was using his abilities to _not_ copy his Limit. A part of him was fascinated by this. Naruto stood against everything a shinobi was.

The Kaguya formed a sword from his shoulder, catching the blade as it fell. Although he wasn't trying to damage Naruto, he still needed to defend himself; this one was unpredictable.

Naruto closed his eyes, melding deeper into the shadows.

"Personal reasons," Naruto answered, his feet gliding across the forest floor without a sound.

Standing still was a _really_ bad idea with this white-haired freak. Naruto wasn't aware of how adept Kimimaro was at chakra sensing, but he wasn't about to test it. The farther away he was from the bone-manipulator, the better.

"Humor me," Kimimaro suggested, tracing Naruto's voice.

"I'd prefer not-" Naruto replied, realizing his mistake a second too late.

_There!_ Kimimaro leapt at a tree several meters away and drove his sword through the trunk. Naruto stumbled from his hiding spot, sporting a cut to his arm.

"Dammit!" muttered Naruto, swinging around a charka-charged hand to counter Kimimaro.

But the bone-manipulator abandoned his sword and used his incredible speed to swat away the hand, a shockwave to shooting wildly to the right. He followed up with a series of sword strikes with a hastily grown bone, dealing several shallow cuts to Naruto's chest. The blond stumbled backwards, unable to prep for the hard kick sending him reeling into another tree headfirst.

Naruto's sight swam as he slowly stood, gripping the tree with one hand for support. Pain shot through his shoulder. Looking towards it, he found a bone protruding from the wound. When he moved, the bone kept him pinned to the tree. As his world stopped spinning, the Jinchuuriki felt a sword press against his throat.

"Copy my Shikotsumyaku and I'll leave you in peace, otherwise I'll force you to," came Kimimaro's ultimatum.

Naruto didn't reply.

Kyūbi, on other hand, was almost screaming in his mind.

_Use more of my chakra!_ she urged. _With it, you can squash this bug! Quickly, before he does more damage!_

If she'd known the battle would've turned out this way, the Kyūbi would've simply kept feeding him more chakra, possibly to the point of creating a chakra cloak.

_I…_ Naruto tried to mentally reply, only for the words to hole up in his throat.

Drawing on her power meant losing his humanity. Haku might be able to save him from completely succumbing to her will, but his body might become even more damaged from the struggle. Only, this time it would come from the Kyūbi's chakra.

But then he remembered his teammates and their current state. Both needed him. And there was no way in Hell, that he'd let Orochimaru have his way!

_Al—_ Naruto mentally stopped mid-word as Kimimaro suddenly stood bone-straight, a look of surprise etched onto his face.

"Naruto!" a female voice shouted in surprise, one said blond recognized.

He looked up, finding the new Ino-Shika-Cho trio standing a distance away, Shikamaru in the same pose as Kimimaro, Ino readying a technique, and Chōji to his friend's side readying his own attack.

"What the hell are you guys doing here?" Naruto asked ever-so sincerely.

"What does it look like?" Ino answered, sounding miffed. "We're here to save your ass!"

"INO!" Shikamaru shouted, his face contorted in concentration and his teeth clenched visibly. "I can't hold him!"

The platinum blond looked to find the lone ninja slowly turning towards them, a hand being raised with what looked like nails growing out of his fingertips.

"RUN!" Naruto screamed.

Team Ten scattered as needles of bone launched from Kimimaro's hand, freeing himself from the Nara's hold. The Oto-nin brought up his other hand, firing from both hands as he followed Team Ten's movement. Ino was barely able to keep ahead of the shots and Chōji ducked behind a rock, but Shikamaru wasn't as lucky, taking several bones to his ankle and causing him trip as he almost reached the cover of a tree.

"Damn it!" the Nara cursed as he quickly turned to meet the superior opponent. Kimimaro had his full attention on him now, both hands poised as spikes of bone jutted out from his fingertips.

"SHIKA!" Ino and Chōji yelled simultaneously as their teammate stared at Death's door.

The moment was interrupted as Naruto ran towards the Kaguya from behind, his wounds healed and his right hand ablaze with red chakra.

_Shuenken!_ Naruto yelled in his mind as he hurled his fist forward, every erg of chakra he could muster poured into this attack.

Kimimaro spun to meet the attack, a foul chakra flaring to life as he instinctively partially activated the seal. His right arm mutated as it met the attack, growing claws and becoming a sickly grey.

The two attacks met, carving a crater into the ground around them from the sheer amount of chakra carried in the two attacks.

Team Ten could only watch in awe from the sheer amount of power being displayed, waiting with bated breaths as the cloud of debris cleared away. Naruto was the first to appear, stumbling out of the cloud with blood dripping from his knuckles and some of his fingers gnarled. Kimimaro was next to follow, clenching his limp arm.

Kimimaro leapt away from his opponents, using his Shikotsumyaku to fix his shoulder when he got enough distance. After the sickening snap, the bone-user experimentally rolled it.

Inwardly, the Kaguya was giving Naruto _some_ credit. Not many people could compete with him, even if he was going easy. Naruto, though, managed to dislocate his arm and break his jaw, feats that the Sound Four could only dream of accomplishing. Not only that, his momentary panic forced him to mutate his arm. Not bad. Not bad at all…

"Good gods," Shikamaru muttered. "That guy is a monster!"

"It's because of his Bloodline Limit," Naruto told them, already feeling his wounded knuckles cracking back into place. "He can control his bones and they're harder than steel. I've been fighting this guy for the past twenty minutes and any damage he gets he can heal."

Inwardly, Shikamaru was running through plans like an indigestion-ridden Akimichi goes through toilet paper as he processed the information Naruto provided. In every way, this guy was superior to them; they had no chance of running as his speed and strength was incredible; his attacks were simply too powerful to counter; the Ino-Shika-Cho trio's attacks would be counterproductive. The odds of them getting out of this alive: not pretty.

"Shika…" Ino interrupted, sounding very on edge.

He looked up to find Kimimaro slowly approaching them, his coat off and bones slowly growing out all of his joints.

"…We're screwed," Shikamaru finally muttered.

Kimimaro knew this needed to end quickly. Already his body was rapidly degrading, especially after the momentary use of the _Chi no Juin_. This battle was becoming tiring, and if Naruto wasn't going to accept his Limit, then there was no choice but to capture the younger boy for his master.

All parties stopped as a new chakra filled the air, carrying malice and bloodlust. Team Ten filled with dread, all three members instinctively desiring to retreat. Kimimaro, though, instantly recognized it and found himself raising an eyebrow.

"Now what?" Naruto bitingly asked himself, wondering which god's cup of coffee he somehow pissed in.

Everyone turned to the source to find Sasuke slowly rising. Foul chakra spiraled around him as a flame-like tattoo crawled around his body, magnifying the filthy chakra the more it spread.

When the Uchiha looked up, his Sharingan spun wildly in his eyes as he took in the sight of the genin against someone he didn't recognize.

But only one person captured his attention: the ruby-eyed Naruto.

Sasuke grinned evilly.

Kill Joy no Jutsu (A.K.A. Author's Note): I bet none of you were expecting that. Here you were thinking that the Sound Genin team was going to go after Naruto. HAH! I fooled you all! And you got a more epic fight out of it.

Well, I intended for this chapter to be much longer, but I ended up having to cut it for length's sake. The next chapter includes Sasuke's intervention in the fight, and the conclusion of what is about to become a three way battle. After that, Team Seven and Ten decides on the next course of action. It's pretty straightforward.

We'll also find out what Sarutobi plans to do about Jizenka and the incident around Shizuka's kidnapping. And Anko begins her training to reach the Kage level from Iruka.

Forbidden Scroll of Techniques:

_Shuenken_「朱炎拳– Scarlet Blaze Fist]- Jinchuuriki Ability – Unranked  
A basic Jinchūriki move, consisting of little more than channeling as much of the Kyūbi's chakra as possible into one place; in this case, the fist. Despite its simplicity, the power behind the attack is not to be underestimated, as proven by the dislocation of Kimimaro's shoulder after a direct punch-on-punch clash.

There are certain drawbacks to this technique, however. The first is that it requires a certain "charging" period before it can be used; the more energy channeled into the fist, the more powerful it resulting attack becomes. The second is that it is only available in the "Initial Jinchūriki Form" – once Naruto calls upon enough of the Fox's powers that the Demon Fox Shroud forms around him, any chakra that he might normally try to allot to this technique would instead automatically be absorbed into the shroud itself.

Still, for what effectively amounts to a mere entry-level technique, you must admit even then that it packs quite a punch! (Pun intended.)


	18. Halcyon Earth and Turbulent Heaven

**Chapter 18- Halcyon Earth and Turbulent Heaven**

"What is it _now_?" sighed Kakashi as he trotted towards the Hokage Tower, hands in his pockets.

If it wasn't one thing, it was another…

It seemed like one pile of crap after another, each getting progressively larger. Knowing his luck, he was about to land headfirst into the biggest issue yet. (Not that Orochimaru hunting his student was big enough already.)

Truthfully, though, it was more an aftereffect. Naruto was the one swimming in the proverbial cesspool; Kakashi was simply in the way of the splashing.

Should he be surprised that Naruto was making enemies with the entire world? Morbidly, Kakashi couldn't feel it. He even almost expected it. With Naruto's over-the-top personality, especially back in his academy days, he could've made enemies with a garden slug. But who could've imagined how everything played out!

The Kyōkagan was the heart Naruto's problems. In a world where kekkei genkai were valued—often to the point especially guarded clans used seals to prevent their secrets from falling into the wrong hands—the Kyōkagan was an enemy's nightmare and an ally's point of worship. Then again, Kakashi surmised, if he bore a kekkei genkai that copied others, people would be out for his ass too. Either Benten-sama loved Naruto so much she skipped the lucky kiss and went straight to mounting him, or hated the blond so much that she decided to curse the boy with enough bad luck to make Tsunade-sama cringe.

Stopping his musings, Kakashi looked up at the tower with another sigh. He was visiting this place _way_ too much nowadays. Don't get him wrong; he liked Tenzo, Iruka, and Anko, but anyone could only take so much of anybody (especially Anko). Visits here carried too much depressing news lately.

Speaking of his allies in secrecy, where were they in this particular mess?

"Why can't he just call Iruka instead?" Kakashi complained as he entered the building.

Yes, a break from bad news would be nice… Actually, a vacation in general sounded amazing…

Opening the doors, the first thing his eyes settled on were a familiar pair of D-cup size breasts.

"Pervert," Jizenka curtly greeted as she stood, immediately recognizing the gravity-defying silver hair.

Kakashi thought—_thought_ being the key word here—that Jizenka had a sense a humor, and thus greeted her as such, complete with an eye-smile: "Booby-chan!"

Jizenka kneed Kakashi in the balls.

Kakashi's voice went up several octaves. "_Pain_…" he squealed, clutching his damaged valuables as he fell into the fetal position.

"My eyes are _here_," Jizenka pointed a finger at her face. "_Not_ here," she lowered the finger to her ample chest.

"I take it you both have had an encounter," the Sandaime observed.

"You could say that," Jizenka vaguely explained, taking a seat.

"Kakashi, pick yourself up off the floor," Sarutobi ordered, wanting to get this meeting over with—even if that had been entertaining as it was scary. "We've got things to cover."

"_It hurts_…" Kakashi's newfound falsetto voice cried. "_Give me a minute_…_please_…"

The two waited patiently as Kakashi slowly stood. With a pained grunt, the copy-cat ninja sat in the remaining chair.

Sarutobi sighed, already seeing the headache on the horizon. "Kakashi, I'm giving you a mission."

The copy-cat acknowledged with a nod, refusing to speak for fear of embarrassing himself with an uncharacteristically squeaky voice.

Continuing on, the Hokage waved a weathered hand towards Jizenka. "This young lady is the famed On Jizenka. I'm sure you're familiar with the name."

Kakashi's single eye almost bugged out of its socket. With a slow, painful turn, he met the eyes of a smirking Jizenka.

How could he not know the name?! During the Third Great Shinobi War, On Jizenka was one of Iwagakura's up-and-coming aces, bellying a far-reaching reputation. Rumors suggested she could've been as powerful as the Sannin given enough time, being the current bearer of the famed mantis contract of Iwa. However, according to spy reports, Jizenka shocked Iwa and other nearby shinobi villages by announcing her early retirement. Afterwards, she fell off the face of the world.

However, if Kakashi's sight wasn't fooling him, it looked as if On Jizenka was still active. Just working for another country.

Kakashi immediately returned his full attention to his commander-in-chief as he continued. "We have a situation on our hands. On Jizenka's student was kidnapped last night by Orochimaru at approximately 0232, two days ago. Jizenka-san's student attempted to fight back, but Orochimaru simply overpowered her."

The scarecrow spared Jizenka a glance. She was sullen, her back hunched in withheld despair. Obviously, she was strongly attached to her student.

"What makes this situation so dire," Kakashi shoved aside his thoughts, "is that Komoriuta Shizuka is the only living bearer of the Genzōme, one of the Three Great Dōjutsu."

Hatake couldn't help himself. "Oh, sonuva—"

"Yes, that is why you're here. We need to rescue Komoriuta-san. A powerful kekkei genkai has fallen into enemy hands and we need to recover it. As both a capable tracker and an individual knowledgeable of Transcendent-types, you're one of the very few capable of fulfilling this mission's perimeters as low key as possible. Thus, this mission is S-Ranked. Jizenka-san will fill you in on the Genzōme's capabilities."

It took a second for Kakashi to realize that Sarutobi has broken a taboo among _certain_ individuals involving a _certain_ ninja.

As if reading his mind, Jizenka spoke up. "Hatake-san, let it be known that I'm aware of the Kyōkagan's presence. I realize the dangers of revealing such a kekkei genkai and its abilities, and, as such, I have promised to keep quiet about it in return for aide in retrieving my student."

It didn't take an academy student with half a brain to realize On Jizenka extorted Konoha's cooperation.

"Jizenka-san, would it be an issue if I talked to Kakashi in private?" the Sandaime politely asked.

"Of course not," the redhead curtly acquiesced.

Once the door closed, Sarutobi instantly flashed through a set of hand seals, activating the noise-dampening seals installed throughout the room. Once done, the aged Kage reclined into his seat, frown marring his visage.

"I'm sure you caught what she was… insinuating," Sarutobi began, undertones of aggravation just barely present—a testament to his years of political maneuvering that he kept control.

"Oh, I did," Kakashi said, his single eye narrowing in anger, "and I'm not happy about it."

"Neither am I, but this works two ways."

The copy-cat's visible eye relaxed. "How so?"

"Like we've been keeping the Kyōkagan secret, On Jizenka has kept the Genzōme under wraps for fear of the major powers turning her student into a weapon of war. Under normal circumstances, she wouldn't have come to us unless she had something to keep us in check-"

"—And we have no choice but to go along for the sake of preventing an international incident that could escalate into war," Kakashi felt a sliver of grudging respect for Jizenka. "Smart girl."

"My thoughts as well."

"I'm assuming we play along?"

"I'm afraid so, and with it dealing with Orochimaru it is _imperative_ that we do take action. There's no telling how my former student will utilize the Genzōme."

"Maybe to draw out the Kyōkagan?" Kakashi suggested.

"That's a possibility I won't dismiss." Sarutobi gave a longsuffering sigh. "Either way, work alongside Jizenka. In my right mind, I couldn't let Komoriuta-san suffer under my former student."

"I understand, sir," the jōnin somberly agreed.

* * *

Naruto, Kimimaro, and the tattoo-covered Sasuke stood in a standoff while Team Ten tensely played witness. Foul chakra spiraled around Sasuke, almost suffocating the present genin from its filthiness; Kimimaro merely looked at the spectacle with a raised brow, while Naruto kept a wary eye on the wild card called his teammate.

Naruto currently hated Benten-sama. His entire week so far was a shit-fest! He'd list all his issues, but that would simply take too long; it would be _so_ long that _Iruka_ would stop reading it at page thirty-five. But if he could factor his life in the past couple months and equate all his issues, it'd all boil down to his _gift_—he was using this word very, _very_ liberally—from the lucky bitch goddess called Kyōkagan.

The blond guessed it also had a role in why Sasuke tackled him.

Team Ten and Kimimaro watched as the momentum of Sasuke's rush caused both boys to role backwards down the side of a hill, tumbling away from sight.

Kimimaro cursed as he gave chase. The bone-manipulator didn't want to imagine Orochimaru-sama's fury if something happened to his future container.

Left behind, Team Ten looked at each other, unsure of their next move.

* * *

Naruto and Sasuke tumbled down the hill. All along the way, the blond felt his body hitting every rock, stick, and tree trunk—him cursing Benten-sama every time his butt took a bruise. Finally stopping at the bottom, both boys, scraped and bruised, raced to stand in an effort to get the drop on the other.

Sasuke, in better position, pounced first, bringing Naruto back to the ground and quickly snatching the collar of the jinchūriki's black jacket.

Naruto could finally get a good look at his crazed teammate. A flame-like tattoo was spread across his body, starting from the point where he'd been bitten by the snake freak. He assumed it to be source of that foul chakra.

"Show it to me!" Sasuke ordered, a deranged smile twisting his face.

"_Show_ what?!" Naruto questioned back, struggled to get his teammate off.

"Your kekkei genkai! _Those silver eyes you hide from everyone_!" Sasuke almost screamed, pressing Naruto into the ground.

Channeling demonic chakra, the Naruto shoved the Uchiha with all his might, putting enough strength behind it to throw his teammate into the air. The blond reacted instantly, following with a bicycle kick that sent Sasuke skidding along the ground.

"Sasuke-teme, you'd better pull your head out of your ass before I do it for you!" Naruto ordered as Sasuke leapt to his feet.

The deranged teen merely smirked before blurring out of sight.

"Ah, ma-" Uzumaki's groaning was interrupted as a fist launched connected with his cheek, sending blond cart wheeling into the ground.

The jinchūriki recovered with a hop to his feet, immediately ducking under Sasuke's follow up roundhouse kick and side-stepping an axe-kicked that gouged the ground. Naruto grabbed Uchiha's arm by the wrist and with a roar he threw Sasuke over his shoulder and into the canopy above, striking a tree limb with an audible smack.

"I really need to watch my power..." Naruto muttered.

Uzumaki entered a stance as Sasuke hit the ground with dust cloud but then relaxed as the flame-like markings receded, taking the foul chakra with it. Sasuke—disoriented and likely suffering a concussion—shakily rose to his feet

"What…?" Sasuke dazedly tried to ask before swaying one last time, falling onto the ground face first.

Naruto sighed in relief. The last attack must've dislodged the bastard's head from his ass. That's good. Now all he had left to deal with was—

Uzumaki spun to the side as a bone blade nearly stabbed through his shoulder, receiving another already healing cut on his arm. Kimimaro's eyes widened as Naruto extended an arm in mid spin, sending it right into Kimimaro's jaw. The bone user stumbled backwards, giving Naruto enough time to charge a fistful of red and send it into the Kaguya's eye.

"No!" Naruto shouted as the Kaguya was knocked back. "My answer is still _no_. _Hell_ to the _no_! Now _go _the _hell_ away!"

Kimimaro rose slowly, looking sullen. "I see… Then there is no other choice."

Time was running out. The disease was rapidly worsening from his exertion while the mission's margin of error rapidly enlarged with every second wasted.

"Huh? What?" asked Naruto, his eyes widening and stance coming loose.

Naruto's eyes widened as the lines at the base of Kimimaro's throat began to extend and cover his entire body. The lines filled the Kaguya's body until no skin was bereft of the converging tattoos, darkening and glowing. Six bones burst from his back, like the spines of an extinct dinosaur. A new appendage extended from his rear, covered with smaller spikes that led up the entire spine.

When it all ended, Kimimaro stood like a dinosaur, his muscular tail swinging lazily from behind. It was the same power Sasuke had used, but far more refined.

With absolute horror, it dawned on Naruto that this man—this _monster_—was his deadliest challenge yet.

Naruto didn't even see the movement. One second Kimimaro was lazily staring at him; another tick of the clock later, Naruto was slammed straight through a tree and landed harshly against a rock. With a moan, Naruto fell forward onto his face.

It hurt. It hurt a lot actually. Kimimaro's single hit carried more force behind it than even Zabuza's zanbatō while the speed insurmountably exceeded Haku's.

Kimimaro Kaguya was an entirely different breed of opponent now.

Before Naruto could even ponder counterattacking, something hard and covered in spikes wrapped around his wrist. The pain hadn't even registered when Naruto was arced into the air and sent into the ground enough force to make a crater. Less than a second later, he was tossed high into the air, the sharp object letting go, but then latching onto his ankle and pulling him back to the ground with enough force to crack several vertebrae.

Naruto had to bite his cheek to prevent from screaming out in pain. In less than five seconds, he was dealt three broken ribs (once of which might've punctured a lung, if the blood he was coughing up was any indication), several cracked or broken vertebrae, and several nasty lacerations.

The blond turned his head over slightly enough to watch a whip-like weapon whirl in the air before retracting back into a serrated sword made of sharpened vertebrae stacked one after another.

The gap between Kaguya and him… it was like an abyss. There was no possible way that Naruto could match that. Not unless he could pull a miracle out of his ass. Not without the Kyōkagan.

Kimimaro's hand blurred and the whip extended, the tip digging along the ground and hitting Naruto into the air while dealing several gashes across the chest. The whip shot past Naruto and then snapped back, snagging Naruto's arm and dragging him back towards the weapon's owner; Kimimaro brought up his fist that connected with Naruto's stomach, releasing the blond from the whip at the cost of a lacerated arm. Naruto skipped across the ground until finally skidding to a stop on his side. After what felt like an eternity, Naruto rolled onto his back while Kimimaro's lazy footsteps echoed towards his direction.

"Copy my kekkei genkai," he ordered, kneeling above Naruto.

Through the pain, through the blood dripping into his eyes, the most unpredictable ninja of Konoha foxily smiled.

"Screw… you…" Naruto painfully wheezed.

Kimimaro could only stare at him. The only testament of his rage was the tightening grip on his bone-whip. In a blur of speed, the Kaguya dug his fingers into the ground and murmured something Naruto couldn't catch past the slowly silencing world. Pain erupted from his thighs, shoulders, stomach as bones shot out of the ground. Naruto screamed in pain.

"This is the gap that exists between us," Kimimaro calmly said through rapidly thinning patience . "Orochimaru-sama could close this gap, and more. But you…" the control finally slipped. "I crushed your body, I smashed your bones, and yet you continue to defy Orochimaru-sama's wish! Why!?"

"Yes," interrupted a familiar sultry voice. "Why, Naruto-kun?"

Everything froze. Nothing moved, not even the falling leaves. The pain disappeared only for the moment. Naruto blinked and as a shadow covered his view. Kneeling with ruby eyes looking down upon him was the Kyūbi.

"You're such a strange one," she said. "Everyone offers you power, the Kyōkagan offers you power… _I _offer you power. Yet, each is subsequently turned down. Why?"

"Why does it matter?" Naruto didn't know where the strength to speak came from.

The Kyūbi gently cradled Naruto's temples, blood staining her pale hands. "It is everything. shinobi are weapons; weapons need power—need to be sharpened—otherwise they are broken. Jinchūriki are weapons of the most powerful sort. Do you not understand this?"

"I'm nobody's tool," Uzumaki defiantly answered. "I refuse to be anybody's tool."

The Kyūbi stared down at him, as if measuring his soul. One of her thumbs traced his brow in a falsely comforting gesture.

"We're dying," she finally said, though the lace of worry was missing. "I don't want to die."

Uzumaki was out of options. He knew it and the Kyūbi knew it. Even in his near death state, the vixen was trying to press her chakra onto him. But… in the end, what else did he have? He could copy Kimimaro's Shikyotsumatsu, but that meant Orochimaru won. And right now, Naruto hated the snake-bastard enough to die defying him.

"I know," Naruto simply replied. "I don't want to either. So, give me your chakra."

If the Kyōkagan's released state was enough to deliver several hard hits to Orochimaru, then the Kyūbi's chakra may be what he needed to counter Kimimaro.

_What was that human epithet again? Ah, yes! Checkmate. _"Very well," a cruel grin twisted the Kyūbi's beautiful visage. "You'll see just how much the Kyōkagan power pales to mine."

* * *

"So…" Kakashi began, hands behind his back and trying not to reach for his book—he was sure Jizenka might rack his balls again if she spotted it. "You're student has a Transcendent-type kekkei genkai as well?"

They were tree-hopping towards Training Area Forty-Four, the last place Shizuka was seen in hopes of chancing upon a lead to Orochimaru or the traitor among Konoha's ranks. However, even the mantis Jizenka tagged her niece with couldn't track the mole, let alone the elusive traitor.

Until they got there, though, Kakashi hoped to make small talk to alleviate the silence. So far, there was little success.

Jizenka stopped on a tree branch. Several meters away, the perimeter fence of the Forest of Death touched their sight.

"Yes," she curtly answered.

On the inside, Kakashi was overjoyed. She finally spoke! "You never did tell me what this 'Genzōme' could do."

The scarecrow couldn't understand why the mantis sage had so many issues. Yes, her student was in danger, but this _had_ to be thought out rationally. Orochimaru evaded Konoha for years. There was good reason to believe that the odds of catching the bastard were roughly equivalent to a snowball's chance in Hell.

This woman… she needed to relax, otherwise she'd burn out. There were obvious signs she was overstressed, although a normal civilian wouldn't note it. Shizuka was only useful to Orochimaru alive—Transcendent Limits didn't work well outside of the original user unless one had intimate knowledge of its workings. The former Iwa jōnin should be able to rest somewhat knowing that. So, why didn't she?

The redhead sighed. "Well… if I remember the legend right, the Genzōme was originally first used by the Sage of the Water Moon, the creator of genjutsu. In the same legend, it states that the sage founded the countries of Tsuchi and Kaminari."

"So I can assume that the Genzōme's abilities are genjutsu-based?" Kakashi interjected.

"Indeed," Jizenka continued. "The Genzōme allows Shizuka to create hybrid illusions, only limited by her imagination. They're so strong that she can fool the body into thinking the event is really happening, but it can also go so far as to fool other Dōjutsu. Her eyes are the conduit to her abilities; although she can create illusions using her own chakra, her most powerful abilities are manifested when she gains control of her opponent's nervous system by contacting senses in some way."

"That's an intimidating kekkei genkai," Kakashi muttered. Whenever Komoriuta gets older, she'd be a truly dangerous opponent.

Jizenka's smiled distractedly. "She's absolutely brilliant, but so stupid at the same time! She could outsmart a Nara, but can't put aside her pride."

"I can understand that," the Hatake mused aloud, putting his hands in his pockets. "My students have their own quirks and habits that drive me up the wall. Naruto can be a fast learner, but lacks common sense; Sasuke is considered a prodigy, but is incredibly arrogant; Sakura has the most brilliant mind among her team, but is often naïve." Kakashi shrugged. "They're fools, but they're _my_ fools."

An uncomfortable silence fell over the duo.

Finally, Jizenka broke it. "But I imagine they're just students to you."

_Now I'm getting somewhere,_ Hatake analyzed.

He was able to see between the lines. More than a teacher/student bond existed. Somehow, they were related. And if the attachment Jizenka showed might be any indication, it could mean Shizuka was possibly directly related to her.

It took a minute to realize she was waiting expectantly for him to say something. Realizing this, Kakashi sighed. "Well, I have to disagree with that assessment. They're the closest thing I've had to a family in a long time."

"Then you can imagine how I feel," Jizenka's voice came off bitingly.

Suddenly, the area was filled with palatable hatred and rage. Kakashi and Jizenka's eyes widened in recognition.

"That… That chakra..." Jizenka whispered. "Is that a jinchūriki?"

Kakashi could only find one word to sum up his thoughts: "Shit."

* * *

"You... you've got to be kidding me... Again?" Shikamaru muttered, leaning against a tree for support.

The bloodlust, the rage… It was too much for him to handle. Every strategic nerve in his brain screamed to retreat towards the opposite direction.

"It's that feeling again…" Ino muttered, wide-eyed and clutching her arm in panic.

Unlike last time, it was magnitudes more potent and wasn't disappearing as fast as it appeared.

Chōji was off to the side losing his lunch, breakfast, and every snack in between.

"We need to help Naruto," Ino muttered taking a shaky step forward. "It's got to be that bone guy!"

She remembered the feel of Sasuke's chakra. The freaky bone guy might've used something similar. Maybe this was involved somehow. But the feel… it was far different compared to Sasuke's tainted chakra.

"What do you expect us to do?" Shika tried to deter, his voice calme despite his panic. "Let's face it: we're not the strongest team out there. If we face whatever this is, we'll die a troublesome death, I'm sure."

Ino frowned, but wouldn't refute or move him along. "Fine, but I'm going to watch and make sure everything is okay."

"Dammit! Ino…!" Shikamaru could only run a hand across his face in irritation.

* * *

Kimimaro got punched in the jaw from below, sending him into an uncontrolled back-flip. The white-haired ninja hopped back onto his feet, only to stumble from a mental assault of killer intent seeping with rage and bloodlust.

Kaguya's eyes traveled to the source. The sight that greeted him sent a shiver running up and down his spine. Crimson, bubbling, almost acidic chakra was slowly pushing Naruto off the ground.

"What is this power?" Kimimaro asked the air, hoping some godforsaken entity might provide him an answer.

Smoke wafted from his wounds as they instantly closed, not even leaving scars; even the bone swords stabbing the boy fell away from unblemished skin. The now feral-looking boy screamed in agony as he clutched his chest as the chakra enveloped his head. Finally, Naruto fell to his hands as the chakra cloak glowed, stabilizing itself.

The balance of power shifted, but Kimimaro couldn't determine who the scales tipped towards.

Kaguya was quick to act. Testing the cloak, he raised his hands and fired several bone bullets. To his astonishment, the attacks deflected off the cloak, succeeding in only making it ripple. Naruto didn't make any movements.

Just as Kimimaro began shifting tactics, Naruto rocketed into motion, a clawed hand crashing down. The white-haired teen barely backpedaled away, but the enlarged chakra hand that followed sent him reeling.

The Kaguya landed on his feet with a skid, only to be followed by an enlarged chakra hand launching from the cloak. Kimimaro snagged a tree at the far end of the clearing with his bone whip and pulled out of the way just as the hand smashed the ground with incredible force. But it then turned on a ryu and chased him as a second hand joined, both smashing through rocks, trees, and other debris to reach their quarry. Landing, Kimimaro turned towards the hands to brace for impact, only for the chakra to dissipate upon approach. Startled, he lowered his guard, but got plowed through the ground by a tree trunk grasped by Naruto's chakra tail.

Before the momentum ended, Naruto appeared above Kimimaro with his clawed hand reaching for his face; Kimimaro reacted on instinct and caught the limb, lengthening rapidly sharpening phalanges and piercing the chakra cloak. Although it caused light damage, it was enough for Naruto to leap away into a tree.

Kimimaro wiped the blood away from his mouth, wearily eying the blond hanging from a branch by his chakra tail. "Incredible… I've never encountered anything like this."

The cloak wasn't impenetrable. Rather, it acted similarly to a cushion against opposing chakras. That alone was enough to render most elemental-based attacks—which were always high in loosely configured chakra—near useless. But as a diamond can be cut by another diamond, any attack with equal chakra density should be able to push past the crimson energy and deal damage.

_Here he comes… _Kimimaro dropped his analyzing as Naruto roared and launched from the tree, leaving indents from the chakra pushed out of his feet. Kaguya dived to the side, but the jinchūriki latched a chakra arm onto a trunk, spinning to meet his target. Hastily, Kimimaro calcified a layer of armor under his skin; even though it cracked from the force of Naruto's bullet-like charge, it had stopped the brunt of the attack.

Kimimaro clenched his teeth from pain and shot out spikes from all over his body, forcing Uzumaki to back off.

He needed time to think! This cloak of chakra was unlike anything he fought, and he needed a counter!

In a split second, the bone-manipulator escaped as Naruto plowed the ground with another cloak extension. Deciding to put his augmented speed to use, Kaguya sped away to buy time, even as two chakra hands weaved through trees to drag him back towards the enraged demon-container.

The scariest feature of the cloak was its use as a weapon. The acidic chakra displayed anamorphous traits, able to stretch and reach across long distances for overwhelming attacks. And at times, Kimimaro was sure the cloak was attacking as if it too had a mind, creating an unpredictable adversary. Theoretically, though, the chakra should only be able to stretch a certain amount before it can't support itself, causing it to collapse and dissipate. In short: the chakra arms weakened with range.

Taking advantage of that last thought, Kimimaro pushed chakra into his legs, launching above the canopy of the trees and into the open air. Like he planned, the cloak hands followed. They made to snatch him midair, but Kaguya phased through them.

Before he could celebrate his observations, Naruto was already in the air to meet him. A chakra fist launched in a large arc and plowed dinosaur-looking ninja into the forest below. Knowing such a drop would be painful, Kimimaro extended several bones, biting into the bark of the trees and slowing his descent. Just as he stopped, Naruto dove from above the canopy in a red blur, ramming into Kaguya and sending him crashing to forest floor with a cloud of debris.

Kimimaro groaned as he slowly got to his feet, only to take a knee. The pain of his disease combined with Naruto's brutal attacks was finally catching up.

He'd long lost his bone whip and sported damage he thought he'd never experience, even with his bone armor. The Kaguya spat blood, drawn from the demonic boy rather than his disease. Truly, this was a fearsome opponent.

The augmentations the cloak afforded Naruto were equally impressive as its more exotic abilities. They possibly extended far above the cursed seal. However, the regenerative rate Naruto displayed—something the cursed seals could never touch—was beyond amazing.

The battle wasn't over, though. Using what he gleaned from his observations, Kimimaro readied for a counterattack.

"_Tessenka no Mai: Hana_," Kimimaro muttered, watching as bones spiraled out of his arm into a spear-like weapon.

Just as the bones finished forming, Naruto came charging from the side with a roar, air displacing from the contained volume and chakra. Orochimaru's loyal soldier turned to meet the attack, spear ready to jab forward.

His body suddenly seized up.

_Not now!_ Kimimaro felt panic fill his chest. Of all the times for his disease to act up…!

Naruto's shoulder connected with the Oto-nin with enough force to demolish a reinforced cement wall, sending the Kaguya into a dizzying whirl of pain as he hit every tree and rock within his trajectory. Finally, his momentum dissipated, leaving him in a small trench gouged out by his own body.

Before Kimimaro could even think of standing, the acidic touch of Naruto's chakra made itself known on his ankle. Just as the pain registered, he was tossed into the air by the phantom limb, only to be snatched again and whipped back into the ground with enough force that Kaguya swore something broke.

But, for Naruto it wasn't enough. The feral boy leapt onto Kimimaro and began to brutally hammer away at the older teen, each hit bearing down with enough force to dent steel.

A gasp of surprise snapped Naruto back into reality, as if waking him from slumber. Panting, he looked down and saw the bloodied and wheezing Kimimaro. Slowly, he turned his sight to his shaking hands, staring at the crimson staining them.

Turning to the source of the gasp, one of his worst nightmares was realized. Ino stood aghast, as if looking upon a monster.

"N-Naruto?" she whispered unsurely.

"I-Ino…?" Naruto felt horror strike his heart like an arrow. _No!Nonononono!_ "I…I…"

He felt so vulnerable only a select few times. Back when Mizuki pulled the rug out from under his world and when Hinata learned about the Kyōkagan. But now…

Naruto shakily backed away from the downed Kimimaro and the fearful Ino, the acidic bubbles of the chakra cloak dissipating with every step as his features regained a human quality.

"Ino, I-I can-"

She held up a hand. "P-Please… give m-me a minute," Ino told him, her voice quivering. Taking a calming breath, Ino wrapped her arms around herself to ease the shaking. "L-Let's talk about it later. We need to deal with-"

At that moment, a ninja garbed in ANBU uniform landed in the clearing. In a blur, the person snatched Kimimaro and then disappeared in a whirl of leaves.

It was silent until Naruto broke it. "That… can't be good."

He was reminded of the Wave mission _way_ too much for comfort.

* * *

"So…" Jizenka started, "that wouldn't happen to have been Konoha's jinchūriki, would it?"

Goddamn, the woman could be astute… But then he might've been unfair. The woman was a jōnin who undoubtedly had a broad knowledge of the shinobi world. Of course she'd be able to recognize the feel of demonic chakra…

"If we do, I don't have a clue who that might be or what they contain." That was about as bold faced as any lie could be, but Jizenka didn't need to know that.

_At least Naruto is okay and the Kyūbi is still imprisoned,_ Kakashi thought offhandedly.

"I call bullshit," Jizenka said, raising a brow. "Look, I may live out in the boonies, but even we hear about attacks from giant foxes. I know what a bijū is and I know how they're handled."

Kakashi gave her a reprimanding look. "Look, even if I knew, what makes you think I'm going to share village secrets? If you know anything about bijū you'll also know that most villages usually keep their trump cards like that hidden. Putting your nose where it doesn't belong is going to end this 'friendship' and you'll just end up having to search for your student by yourself."

The former Iwa-nin went quiet. "Sorry," she finally offered. "I wasn't thinking. I've never met a jinchūriki before, so I was just curious. I didn't realize they're that valuable to a hidden village."

"Accepted, but don't go asking stupid questions," Hatake said. "Now, can we please return to the task at hand?"

As Konoha's jinchūriki, Naruto wasn't well known, but that could be attested to several factors, including his age and currently limited ability as a ninja. And hopefully it stayed that way until he was strong enough to back such a title. But, if the past couple months were any indication, Naruto would become known for entirely different reasons.

The sight of a rock mantis landing on Jizenka's shoulders was enough to drag him away from his thoughts. He couldn't hear its whispers, but Jizenka, ear tilted towards its head, nodded every couple seconds. With an "Okay," from Jizenka, it flew off and continued its search for evidence.

He watched as Jizenka began pacing back forth, only stopping when another mantis landed on her shoulder and reported any findings. Even if these mantises were a breed capable of exceptional camouflage and espionage, the deftly skilled spying insects couldn't find a scrap of information regarding Orochimaru's whereabouts.

So far, the duo examined three sites: one where Kakashi assumed Naruto fought Orochimaru, followed by the area where Iruka fought the Sannin, and then finishing with the last sight where Shizuka was kidnapped. Each led to a dead end.

"Jizenka, I don't want to say this, but the trail is cold," Kakashi said.

In retaliation, he received a glare capable of melting steel.

With a sigh, Hatake continued. "Orochimaru is a master of elusion. We've been hunting him since the end of the Yondaime Hokage's reign. This trail may be considerably warmer than others in the past several years, but we're not going to find him, not without another appearance."

"But if we don't-" Jizenka tried countering, only for Kakashi to interrupt with a raised hand.

"I understand why you're going to such extents to save Shizuka." It was enough for the sage to shut her mouth. "If I lost Naruto, Sasuke, or Sakura, I'd go to the ends of the world to find them. They mean a lot to me. However, the enemy we're dealing with here… We need to think rationally and calmly." He stopped, allowing what he said to sink in.

Jizenka closed her eyes. Looking back on her actions for the past couple hours drove her to wanting to smack her head against a tree. It was most unbecoming of the Mantis Sage! Extorting the Hokage may've been brilliantly played, but her actions afterwards were without thought. Gods, she was as impulsive as her niece!

She sighed in defeat. "I owe you an apology." A wiry smile traced her lips. "This behavior is most unbecoming of an active jōnin. I should be thinking with my head. _Not_ with my heart."

Kakashi smiled beneath his mask. _Now_ he could work with her!

"Ah, but the heart is where strength is!" the scarecrow offered, taking a page out of Minato-sensei's book. "It's only when you think with the mind and fight with the heart that true strength is revealed."

Suddenly, her smile became playful, catching Kakashi off guard. "Sounds like something a fortune cookie once told me. But you know… I like it."

The copy-cat grinned. "I always thought my sensei was a fortune cookie, but he did say some stuff that stuck."

Jizenka then went serious. "Okay, so what's our next move?"

Kakashi tapped his chin. "Now, if I was a Sannin with a fetish for kekkei genkai," Jizenka snorted in amusement, "and I found the ultimate one, where would I be?"

The scarecrow leaned against a tree trunk while the redhead began pacing anew.

Jizenka snapped her fingers as epiphany struck. "If I found the ultimate kekkei genkai, I'd find a way to observe it. And the best way to observe one is through combat! But where is there observable combat in this forest?"

Kakashi's eye sharpened as his analytical mind examined what little they had to work with. "The next—and best—place to observe combat is the Chunin Exam elimination rounds. However, there were a lot of students that passed the first exam this year, so there's a high likelihood that many will pass here as well. If that's the case, there will be a prelim. The fights there are observable."

"Well, it looks like we have a destination," Jizenka excitedly turned to leave only to stop and turn to an amused Kakashi. "Uh, where exactly are we going?"

* * *

After leaving Ichiraku's, Anko and Iruka strolled along Konoha's main street while the academy teacher outlined what Anko's training would entail.

They were going to start Mitarashi's training today as according to said woman's demand, much to Iruka's chagrin. He still hadn't fully recovered from chakra exhaustion, but Anko had been quite forceful. Well, he had several ideas in mind about what to teach her.

"Have you done elemental training?" Iruka asked her, sidestepping people.

"I dabble in it," Anko answered. "It's something I'd like to improve, though."

The teacher nodded. "Most ninja begin their elemental training around high chūnin. Certain individuals begin it even earlier. However, I know some that make do without it. But with you, we're going to make it a part of your style. I also want to see if we can branch off from your, um… _ex_-teacher's style."

Anko offered him a raised brow.

Iruka sighed. "Your style mirrors Orochimaru's too much. If you were to fight him you'll be predictable. Well, I want to see if we can change that. To that end, I'd also like to have a chat with the snakes and see what kind of moves they have to offer."

She raised an eyebrow at the line of thought. "Okay, I'll admit it: my style follows my _ex_-sensei's. Still, the snakes aren't exactly a talkative bunch."

The teacher shrugged. "There are ways around that."

"Can we _please_ talk about something else?"

"Then what elemental alignment is your chakra?"

"Fire."

Iruka rubbed his chin. "Hmm…"

"What?" Anko asked, frowning at his thoughtful expression.

"I'm trying to think of how to approach teaching you," Umino answered. "I'm not an avid fire element user, if you haven't already guessed."

The snake summoner snorted. "No, I wouldn't have guessed… Just give me the how-to and I'll work from there."

Iruka sighed. That's how he imagined things going in the first place…

He hoped at least finding a skilled fire jutsu user to give Anko pointers. Sadly, masters of the destructive element were few and far between, even in the middle of Hi no Kuni. Although there were a number of avid fire users out there, few mastered it to a feasible level. So, Iruka's work was cut out for him.

Only after he noticed the sudden lack of electrical signatures did Iruka realize they were at the training fields. Not desiring any unwanted attention (or destruction of property) Iruka thought his favorite training field would do just fine.

Anko took in the number of scorch marks, craters, and blasted trees. Part of the field was healed and eroded, leaving perfectly fine forest; other areas were newly devastated as could only be expected of a training field used frequently. Because Iruka trained here, that explained why the vegetation was fairly thick; with lightning putting nitrates into the ground, the plants were unusually healthy.

"My favorite training area," Iruka announced as he walked up next to Anko, ready to answer whatever questions Anko might ask about the field.

"Definitely shows," Anko half-heartedly murmured.

The chūnin moved past her. "It's out of the way, which is what I need when I use my full power." His pleasant smile became embarrassed. "The last time I went all-out for training near the city, it took me months just to pay the damages! Since then, I take my training here so the power plant workers don't keep getting angry with me."

"Don't tell me that every blackout we've had in the past twelve years has been your fault," Anko deadpanned.

Iruka blushed, but didn't say anything.

"Okay, stupid question to ask…" she thought it better to drop the subject, especially since she knew the answer. "So, when do we start?"

Mitarashi watched as Iruka plucked a leaf off a tree branch. Knowing the routine, she rolled her eyes as she plucked the leaf from his fingers and turned it into ash. Nothing new there…

Then Iruka gave an uncharacteristically impish smirk that made Anko frown.

"_What_?" she snapped.

"You're supposed to _prevent _the leaf from burning," the teacher answered, sounding amused.

Anko grimaced. "That's ass backwards."

"It may seem like that," Iruka explained with a shake of his head, "but any _true_ fire element master worth their ryu will tell you otherwise. Fire is destructive. It grows, it burns until all in its path is swallowed whole in its rage. At the same time, it's passionate, strengthening, and purifying when channeled _properly_."

Anko's expression softened. She never looked at it that way.

"Where'd you learn that?" Mitarashi asked, surprised Iruka of all people offered that tidbit of wisdom.

"When I was younger, I was trying to research good methods of elemental training," the S-ranked chūnin explained. "I found several good titles on the subject, but one had a really good perception on Katon. If you want, I'll lend you it."

"Yeah…" Anko accepted awkwardly. "That would… help."

She was unused to such kindness. Being Orochimaru's former student and carrying a reputation as a sadistic interrogator turned people off to the mere idea. Just asking for the time of day—let alone a _favor_—was arduous. For Iruka to offer such a simple favor… it left a warm feeling in her chest. (Coming from Anko, it was an embarrassing thing to admit.)

While she digested his words, Iruka grabbed a new leaf and shot a small spark of electricity through the center, darkening it from the inside as faint traces of red rapidly enlarged the hole. He quickly handed it to Anko.

"Now try again," he ordered.

Anko nodded and tried to prevent the black from spreading, only for her chakra to speed up the process and instantly incinerate the leaf. She looked disbelievingly back to Iruka, only to find the impish grin back on his face. Oh, he'd pay for this later! But for now, though, she took another leaf from him and repeated the process, only for each consecutive leaf to turn into ash.

After the eighth leaf, Anko growled and stomped the ground in irritation like a child throwing a temper tantrum. Iruka merely laughed at her antics.

"Want to take a break?" he suggested.

"… Yeah," she grumbled out.

Anko watched as Iruka walked towards the shade of a large tree, her sight lowering more than it should. Realizing _where_ she was staring, she looked away with a blush. He had a tight…

_Stop it!_ Anko screamed in her mind.

Well, Iruka wasn't bad looking, her other half reasoned.

It was then the butterflies in her stomach came back with vengeance and a box full of dynamite. Anko realized her crush on Iruka was getting worse and worse, and-

"Hey, you want to join me over here?" Iruka invited from his seat on the ground. She didn't even see him take a seat! "The shade is very nice."

"Uh, s-sure," she stuttered.

Wait… She was acting like the Hyūga Heiress! Oh, for the love of…

Never before had been so uncomfortable sitting anywhere. Though Anko sat a foot away, she dared not look at Iruka's face for the fear of seeing her blush. Even the silence seemed pronounced to Mitarashi, though the teacher was happily looking out towards the trees and the buildings that rose past them.

Love wasn't her thing. Anko was Konoha's Snake Mistress, a member of the T and I Department, someone who was to be feared! Most men made it a point to make a path for her! However, whenever there was that cute guy that Anko felt some interest for, they'd run away like the Shinigami was standing behind her. For that reason, she took full belief that love stunk and no one out there could look past her reputation for even five minutes. Iruka however…

Finally, Anko had enough. She stood and looked intently at Iruka, the blush getting worse. Iruka looked to her with worry.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

_Well, here I go…_ "Hey, Iruka, I was… Well, I… thinking… uh… um… Godammit!" she ran a hand across her face, growling as the aggravation mounted. "Look, I really… really… Well, it's like…"

Iruka's eyebrows knitted together. "Are you okay?"

Anko stopped and took a deep breath. "Okay… Okay, look Iruka, I… _Oh, to Hell with this shit_!"

Finally, she pounced at the teacher and assaulted his mouth with her tongue.

* * *

"She needs medical attention," Ino said as she placed a damp rag on Sakura's forehead.

"Tell me something I don't know…" Naruto muttered, his sensitive hearing easily picking up her faint voice.

The Yamanaka twitched. She hadn't expected Uzumaki to hear her, but didn't verbally make note of it, choosing instead to concentrate on Sakura as she tended the sickly girl.

"What happened?" Chōji asked past a mouth full of chips—Shikamaru and he were sitting on a nearby log.

Naruto pushed himself off the tree he was leaning against with a sigh, recalling every struggle his team weathered since entering the exam. "Some asshole named Orochimaru bit Sasuke and Sakura. But the place where he bit them has strange marks."

At the mention of traitorous Sannin's name, Team Ten reeled.

"_Did you just say Orochimaru!?_" Chōji almost yelled in hysteria.

"What?" Naruto blinked at the surprise displayed by his former classmates. "The guy can't be that tough. I mean, I cut off his arm."

"_You cut off his arm?!"_ If Ino's eyes got any larger, they would've popped out and rolled on the ground.

"Hey, it wasn't a big deal… Well, okay, maybe it was. The guy was freakishly strong," Uzumaki said more to himself than the others. "He kicked my ass _hard_."

"But you _still_ cut off his arm?" Shikamaru tried to reaffirm, his brain incapable of computing that Naruto of all people cut off—O-F-F—Orochimaru's arm. "There's no way! Maybe it was some look alike."

The sunny-blond sighed. Why was facing Orochimaru-teme such a big deal?

Sasuke, sitting nearby, ignored the ruckus his teammate caused in favor of rubbing the cursed seal—good god did the thing _itch_—and the inflamed skin around it.

That chakra…that sick, tainted spiritual energy… the Uchiha remembered it vividly, the power he felt, the strength it gave him. It was addicting like a drug, and like any new druggie Sasuke wanted a higher dosage, but a small part of him feared that foul power, especially knowing _who_ planted the seal. Worse yet, he'd attacked a teammate without provocation. Though he'd love to make Naruto eat dirt any day of the week (as would many other people), Sasuke had the decency to admit fault.

For reasons Sasuke couldn't understand, his quest to uncover Naruto's kekkei genkai had permeated his mind during his chakra high. And even now, his curiosity danced on the edge of his consciousness. The craving to solve the enigma of his teammate had never dissolved since the Wave mission, instead culminating until it exploded at the worst possible moment. Those vivid, mercurial pupils on a canvas of cerulean… He remembered that fleeting image too well, and it only egged him to—

Sasuke shook his head to dislodge such thoughts. Now wasn't the time.

Sighing, Sasuke sauntered over to Sakura to distract himself. She was getting worse. It was the same as in Wave. Sakura looked as helpless then as she did now, and it was painful for Sasuke to watch. He didn't want to lose her, not if he had a say in it.

"Guys…" the Uchiha began, only to be drowned out by two arguing blonds.

"_You dumbass, you three should've ran_!" Ino cried, on the verge of screaming.

"_Hey, we tried_!" Naruto countered, easily meeting the Yamanaka's volume. "But the bastard kept chasing us! We ended up having to fight him off! And seriously, he couldn't have been that strong!"

"You do realize that Orochimaru was a candidate for Yondaime Hokage before he became a missing-nin, right?" Shikamaru interjected with a drawl

Uzumaki was dumbfounded. "Oh, really?"

What a scary thought. It was hard imagining the snake bastard in a league comparable to the Yondaime. Once again, Naruto wondered how they escaped

… No, that was inaccurate. Rather, they were let out alive.

"Then how was I able to cut off his arm?" Uzumaki questioned aloud.

"GUYS!" Sasuke shouted, bringing all attention to him. "Sakura needs medical attention. _Now_."

It was silent, until Shikamaru talked. "Well, you have two options: drop out of this exam and get her to the hospital, or somehow magically produce the other scroll you need so you can get to the tower—where the nearest medical facilities are, I might add. Sorry to be Mr. Raincloud, but those are your options."

Sasuke didn't speak, instead his gaze softened as he turned to Sakura.

"Dammit," Naruto growled, running his hands across his face.

"Shika, what scroll do we have?" Ino suddenly asked, catching everyone off kilter.

The Nara sighed, having also considered such a strategy. "We have an Earth Scroll… But wouldn't it be better to send them to the hospital outside of the forest?"

Okay, maybe it was a little selfish to not offer the scroll straight out, but a part of Shika wanted to get out of the forest too. And if he could get Sasuke and Naruto knocked out of the exam, all the better; both were dangerous opponents.

Ino, figuring the direction the Nara's mind went, glared, making Shikamaru cringe back. "To hell with this exam! Sakura is dying! You said it yourself; the only place to get any medical attention here is the tower. Unless some random medic-nin walks—"

A snapping twig echoed through the clearing, immediately silencing the group. Five heads whipped to the source, finding Kabuto Yakushi at the edge of the area, holding his hands up pleadingly while smiling sheepishly.

"Oh dear…" the older teen muttered embarrassedly. "Wrong place. I think I'll just head—"

"False alarm," Ino announced to the group.

"Oh, it's just you," Chōji dismissed with a sigh. "We were worried it would be someone like that Suna Team—they're scary."

While everyone relaxed, Naruto remained guarded. There was just _something_ about that smile that made his skin crawl. It was _too_ friendly. And he didn't believe Kabuto. How could someone go through this test at least seven times and somehow not learn a damn thing. Yakushi should know better than to get lost. No, Naruto didn't like this guy at all.

Was he being overly paranoid? Naruto could argue that like a lawyer argues a convict's innocence. It wasn't paranoia if everyone was really out to get you.

And that snake smell… Did this guy bathe with snakes or something?

"What're you doing here?" Sasuke scathingly questioned.

Kabuto adjusted his glasses, his smile somehow more sheepish. "Just got separated from my team. I heard voices and thought it was them. I guess I was wrong."

"That's great," Naruto's smile was anything but friendly. "Now, how about you _go away_?"

"Naruto!" Ino chastised. "He's a Konoha genin. We need to look out for our own, you know."

"Yeah, but this _is_ the Chūnin Exam!" the jinchūriki countered, pointedly glaring at Ino—seriously, that snake smell really bothered him. "For all we know, his teammates could be hiding and waiting!"

"Ino, I have to agree with Naruto," Shikamaru added, coming to stand next to said blond. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but Naruto's got the right idea. We can't be sure if he's an enemy."

"Yeah, but…Naruto, I thought your eyes were blue!" Ino suddenly (and loudly) noted.

"Huh, what?" Naruto almost felt whiplash at the sudden subject change.

Only then did he realize how naked his face felt, and that one of his pockets _did_ feel a little heavier from a certain piece of broken eyewear.

_Oh, crap…_ Naruto mentally moaned, feeling panic bloom in his chest.

"Your eye color, it's red," Shikamaru noted, looking genuinely interested in the development like it was some kind of puzzle. "Back in the academy I specifically remember you having blue eyes. But how is that possible? Eye color doesn't change."

"Uh…" Uzumaki couldn't think of an excuse fast enough to clear this mess.

"What happened? How did they change? Did you get hurt? Were they always like that?" Ino rapid-fired interrogated, walking up to Naruto and peering intently at the medical oddity.

He looked around like a rat trying squeeze out of being cornered. They weren't that close to revealing the Kyūbi's continued existence, but it was still awfully uncomfortable. Even if they were still missing the nail with the hammer, they could just as easily put themselves on the track to hitting it dead on. The last thing he needed was another secret flung out into the open.

Sasuke watched as Shikamaru and Chōji analyzed their friend's oddity from the side while Ino examined Naruto's eyes with a mere couple inches separating their faces. It brought Sasuke some humor to watch Naruto squirm under the platinum blonde's utter disregard for space for a change.

When did Naruto's eyes change color? Before the Wave mission, they looked normal. Well, if it hadn't been for those damned goggles, the Uchiha might've been able to tell when those cerulean eyes became pigeon-blood red.

He still hated those things with a passion, if only for the trouble they caused Sakura and him in their almost forgotten attempts to look past…

Sasuke paused his thoughts, a scrutinizing expression plastering his features. Like a switch being hit, the gears in his head began to whir to life as details he almost forgot suddenly fit the confounding jigsaw puzzle named Naruto.

"Naruto," Sasuke began, garnering everyone's attention. "Back on the bridge in Wave, Sakura mentioned feeling a weird chakra."

Naruto felt the color drain from his face.

But he wasn't the only one whose demeanor changed. Ino tensed, vividly remembering Naruto's slit eyes.

"She couldn't describe it well, just that it was scary," Sasuke explained. "Did that change your eye color? Is that why you wore those goggles?"

_Maybe… Maybe that has everything to do with what I saw._ Briefly, an image of reflective pupils—a cursory moment as evanescent as the blink of an eye—flashed through Sasuke's mind.

Naruto felt his hear skip a beat. He kept forgetting Sasuke had earned his spot as the 'Rookie of the Year' for a reason. He'd need some analytical ability to back his combat prowess. Evidently, Naruto still couldn't give Uchiha the credit due, much to his own irritation—Naruto always thought him as having the analytical abilities of a cheesy-poof. What, with having that handy-dandy Sharingan—

"Excuse me," Kabuto—completely forgotten to this point—interrupted. "Would it be problem if I took a look at your eyes, Naruto-kun? I might be able to pin point what might've changed your eye color. Off the top of my head, I can name off several conditions that would elicit such changes."

Hesitantly, Naruto nodded, if only to keep everyone from asking questions more than they already were.

Kabuto adjusted his glasses as he walked over to the blond, pulling out a small medical pack. Withdrawing a small flashlight, he shined the light into Naruto's eyes, watching as the pupils contracted.

"Hmmm… How interesting…" Kabuto muttered, making Naruto shift uncomfortably.

"What?! What is it?!" Ino asked, panic building.

Her overactive imagination created twenty-two scenarios, all of which involved Naruto dying horrendously and painfully.

"It's a rare condition known as 'Chakra Eye' or Yukitachi's Disease," Kabuto answered, smiling pleasantly as he returned his medical equipment.

"I knew it! Naruto's going to die!" Ino almost screamed/cried, clutching her head in misery.

Inwardly, Naruto heaved a sigh of relief. Gods, that was far from the truth, but who was he to question his good luck?

Kabuto chuckled amusedly. "Far from it! Yukitachi's Disease is far from lethal. Although 'disease' in the name, it's not really a sickness; more of a condition."

"Okay… What is it then?" Shikamaru asked.

"It's a condition that affects the iris, usually caused by hemorrhaging of the iris eye muscle. Normally, that would lead to a condition called heterochromia, which is mismatched eye color; however, Yukitachi's Disease is caused when the eyes are exposed to incredibly high amounts of chakra, causing the iris to hemorrhage and permanently alter their color. It doesn't affect sight, just changes the eye-color. It's rare, though. Most sufferers usually have a bad experience with a botched genjutsu or high exposure to huge amounts of chakra."

"Oh," Ino muttered, deflating from her emotional outburst. She already had picked Naruto's gravestone too…

Well, that was an unholy amount of chakra he used. It definitely explained the eye color change.

But she wouldn't voice such thoughts. Naruto was keeping his lips shut and Ino was going to follow suit. Though Ino was a gossip, she realized that certain secrets were taboo.

Naruto laughed nervously, rubbing the side of his face. "Yeah, I really don't want to talk about what happened."

_I wouldn't want to either…_ Ino thought grimly, chewing her bottom lip.

Naruto noticed the Yamanaka's gesture and swallowed a lump in his throat. He prayed to Benten-sama that Ino continued to keep her big mouth shut. Thankfully, she hadn't voiced anything uncomfortable yet. Though, how long would that last?

"Jeeze, I _don't _even want to know what happened," Shikamaru muttered. "It's troublesome enough hearing about the aftereffects."

For Sasuke, more questions were asked than solved. What really happened on the bridge in Wave? What was Naruto's involvement? What does this all point to? Once again he was reminded of how little he knew of secretive teammate.

Despite being loud and boisterous, Naruto was the most enigmatic person Sasuke knew. Only the five kage seemed to hold more secrets.

Kabuto bowed to the blond. "Thank you very much, Naruto-Kun, for giving me a chance to look at such a rare condition. As a medic-nin, medical oddities are always intriguing."

"Uh, your… welcome?" Naruto awkwardly said. But then it clicked in his mind. "Wait, you're a medic-nin!"

Kabuto blinked. "Uh, yes I am."

"Then you can help Sakura-chan!"

The medic-nin flashed another friendly smile. "Well, if I can be of service—"

Naruto snatched the older boy's hand and dragged him over to Sakura, all his thoughts of suspicion completely gone. After releasing himself from the blond's grip, Kabuto pulled out his medic kit and began to work. Team Ten and the remaining members of Team Seven watched pensively, hoping beyond hope that their friend wasn't beyond saving.

Fifteen minutes of pregnant silence passed before Kabuto finally spoke in a tone nobody liked. "Oh, this is quite dreadful."

Everyone stopped breathing.

Ino was the first to regain her bearings, her voice shaking. "W-What is it?"

Kabuto held a hand to his chin. "Her body is having an adverse reaction to the chemical used to apply this seal." He pointed at the three curved, connected lines on her neck. "She needs medical attention I can't give her."

"Goddammit!" Naruto roared, charging his hands with the Kyūbi's chakra and smashing the side of a tree.

"However," everyone felt a skip in their heartbeats as a sliver of hope peaked within their souls, "I might have a way to get her to the tower."

"What do we need to do?" Sasuke quickly asked.

The silver-haired teen adjusted his glasses. "I need to speak to Naruto-kun first."

And suddenly, Naruto felt every suspicion against Kabuto rise tenfold. That scent of snakes seemed far more pronounced.

* * *

"Alright, what do you—?"

Naruto was cutoff as his back slammed into a tree, a hand clasping around his neck and a glowing palm aimed at his head. Kabuto's smirk turned downright sadistic, taking pleasure in the shock the jinchūriki's ruby eyes permeated.

"I didn't like you from the start of this exam," Naruto voiced even with his voice box being pressed against, his eyes narrowing. "I couldn't put a finger on why, but I think it's obvious now. You're anything but the nice guy everyone thinks you are."

"You're very astute, Naruto-kun," Kabuto complimented. "Even from the start of this farce, you suspected me; though, you never truly understood why. Only veterans have that kind of instinct."

"It's _not_ paranoia when people _really _are after you. Now, what do you want?" Naruto questioned, only for the hand to tighten around his larynx.

"Why didn't you copy Kimimaro-kun's Shikyotsumatsu?" was Kabuto's answer.

"Oh, so you were the bastard that saved his ass!" Naruto's eye twitched. "You know, that was very asshole-ish of you, and not very original either. If I were you—"

Kabuto squeezed harder, causing the boy to shut-up. "Answer me."

Uzumaki didn't answer, only offering a glare in return. Unsatisfied, Kabuto slowly dug his fingers into Naruto's throat, causing the younger boy to struggle for oxygen.

The only warning Kabuto got was Naruto's irises shifting to slits. Before he could react, Yakushi's hand was swatted away with speed he almost couldn't track, followed by Naruto driving his sharpened nails into his chest. It was a testament to Kabuto's superior reflexes that he was able to shift enough to only receive gouges across his skin.

Kabuto leapt away to a nearby branch for safety, holding his bloodied side. Despite blood dripping between his fingers, the traitor looked amused. He hadn't expected Naruto's ability to control the Kyūbi's chakra to such a degree.

He pressed a glowing hand to his side, quickly and efficiently closing the flesh wound.

"You know, I really hate that bastard Orochimaru," Naruto told Kabuto, taking a defensive stance even as his eyes and nails shifted to normality. "I swear, I see another asshole like him—or you—I might go nuts."

Just as Naruto coiled his legs to launch, Kabuto defensively raised both hands, causing the sun-kissed boy to stop as he narrowed his eyes. Keeping his sight on the human maelstrom, Kabuto dug into his bag and pulled out a scroll, tossing it to Naruto. Cautiously, Naruto looked it over, only for his eyebrows to shoot past his hairline when he discovered it to be an Earth Scroll.

"Orochimaru-sama has taken an interest in you and your teammates," Kabuto explained, adjusting his glasses. "…As have I. For that reason, we'll both be watching you carefully. Drop out of the exam, and there will be consequences.

"What kind of… _consequences_?" Naruto cautiously asked.

Kabuto smirked. "If I were you, I wouldn't think about that. Rather, I'd be more worried about finishing this exam so that those consequences aren't realized. After all, isn't your teammate, Sakura-chan, in a precarious situation? She needs medical attention as soon as possible."

Naruto felt a shiver up his spine at the mention of Haruno. "What did that snake freak do Sasuke and her?"

"Oh, nothing terribly wrong," Kabuto vaguely answered. "Orochimaru-sama merely gave them a taste of the power he's offering them. That offer extends to you as well."

Naruto shifted uncomfortably. "Sorry, but I'm not into old guys with a fetish for kekkei genkai."

Yakushi shook his head. "I'm afraid you'll come to Orochimaru-sama… one way or the other."

Uzumaki had enough. In a blur of speed, Naruto reappeared in front of Kabuto with a chakra-charged fist. Kabuto merely smirked, disappearing in a blur of leaves as Naruto's attack cratered wood.

* * *

"Will you sit down!?" Shikamaru asked/ordered. "You're making me nervous now!"

Ino paced back and forth, chewing on her bottom lip. "They've been gone too long. Something must've happened!"

This time, Sasuke spoke. "Calm down. Naruto is like a foot fungus. People have already tried multiple times to kill him, but he. Just. Doesn't. Go away."

Yes, Naruto had the tenacity of a cockroach. And devil's luck to boot. It would take something special to actually kill Naruto.

"Really?" Ino asked disbelievingly.

"The Demon Brothers from Kiri, Momochi Zabuza, and his apprentice Haku—all four of which were nuke-nin—Komoriuta Shizuka trying to knock us out of the exam (avoid that bitch if you meet her), I think that Gaara guy might've tried something, but I don't know on that one, and Orochimaru definitely made several attempts now on his life if the Kimimaro guy is anything to go by," the Uchiha counted off. "There might've been more, but you'll have to ask Naruto."

The Yamanaka's mouth dropped so far a bird could land and build a nest in it.

"Actually," interrupted a familiar voice, "Gaara hasn't tried to kill me yet, but he's probably looking for me now to do that."

Everyone turned as Naruto jaunted into the clearing sans Kabuto Yakashi. Though, nobody missed the scroll swaying with his arm.

Ino sighed in relief. "You're okay… Where's Kabuto?"

Naruto grimaced, ignoring the question in favor of tossing the scroll to Sasuke. The Uchiha frowned as he looked it over, only for his eyes to widen at the sight of the Earth Scroll.

"You didn't!" Yamanaka almost screeched.

"No, I really didn't. A genin team from Ame attacked us; evidently, they were following our group and waiting for one of us to get separated in order to capture a hostage. Kabuto tossed the scroll to me and then lured them away," he lied. There was too much sensitive information to tell even a half truth.

"At least now we don't have to give up our scroll," Shikamaru said with a relieved sigh. "It's troublesome, but if we want Sakura to get medical treatment, we need to move now."

"But we can't enter the tower without another scroll," Chōji reminded.

The Nara rolled his eyes. "I've got a plan. But we'll discuss it after we get Sakura to the tower."

All nodded in agreement. Sasuke collected Sakura while Naruto gathered the remainder of their supplies from the hollow. After Naruto rejoined, Teams Seven and Ten raced towards the tower at full speed.

Naruto remained in the back. Seeing this, Ino joined him. He ignored her, already knowing what subject she wanted to breach.

"Look," Ino quietly started, getting Naruto's attention despite trying to block her out, "I… I don't know what happened back there or what kind of power that was. From what I've seen, you know what it is, and you're obviously trying to keep it a secret. I won't tell anyone, but will you please tell me about it? I won't think any differently of you."

"You say that now…" Naruto mumbled. "I'll tell you, but you have to promise not to tell anyone about it."

"Deal."

"Alright then. I'll tell you later when nobody is around."

* * *

"Did you deliver the scroll?" Orochimaru questioned, not bothering to turn towards the whirlwind hailing the arrival of his servant.

"I have to admit," Kabuto's voice carried a note of amusement, "it's awfully _kind_ of you to help them."

The snake leered oily. "Yes, I admit, it is quite unlike me. But I can't help but be curious. I want to see how well Naruto-kun does. I'm sure Gaara might be an excellent challenge to test his strength. Now, how are Sasuke-kun and Sakura-chan doing?"

Yakushi smile took on a devilish edge. "Sasuke-kun is taking to the power quite well. I'm sure with enough prodding he'll come to Otogakura without restraint." His smile fell. "Sakura lived through the standard three days. However, her body is still reacting negatively. I give her another day before everything clears."

It was the Sannin's turn to grimace. "Is that so?"

Sakura's case sounded eerily close to another he knew… If so, the genin wouldn't have the desire to draw upon the cursed seal's power. That could change, though. Unlike Anko, Sakura was young and impressionable.

Even then, Orochimaru could get other uses out of her, unsightly as they may be.

"Also," Kabuto interrupted Orochimaru's thoughts, "Naruto-kun displayed a higher aptitude in controlling the Kyūbi's chakra than we originally suspected. I felt elevated levels of demonic chakra in his coils when I made contact with him, which leads me to believe that the reason he didn't use the Kyōkagan in his confrontation with Kimimaro wasn't because he didn't want to, but rather because it was being suppressed."

"That is an issue…" the snake-man muttered.

There was that bijū again! Already, he didn't know if he could possess Naruto-kun's body with the beast's presence. And then to discover that the Kyūbi was capable of suppressing the Kyōkagan…

Orochimaru was not a master of fūinjutsu. Of the major shinobi arts, he'd willingly admit weakness in it. However, the materials and research was at his disposal. Given enough time he'd find a way to suppress the fox and take Naruto-kun's body.

"How is Kimimaro-kun? His body was put under severe strain during his battle with Naruto-kun," Kabuto asked.

"He won't last. His death will be a severe loss on our part," Orochimaru answered. "I would prefer for my future container to copy the Shikyotsumatsu while Kimimaro-kun is alive. Although it is possible for the Kyōkagan to copy Kekkei Genkai from a corpse, I would prefer not to test it."

Kabuto's lips twitched. "I understand. Depending on the course of the exams, I might even have a plan to ensure it occurs."

* * *

Temari winced as her youngest brother ruthlessly crushed a Kusa genin, scattering blood and sand across the field like a macabre rain. Gaara remained untouched by the crimson downpour, holding the umbrella he pilfered from their earlier encounter from an Ame team. Outraged, the genin's teammates moved to retaliate, but snagged in the sand. Within seconds, they too became nothing more than red stains.

Gaara felt only dissatisfaction. Ever since that wave of demonic chakra, his bloodlust seemed unquenchable. Everything he accomplished couldn't satisfy Shikaku's screaming. Whoever it was… that person's death would make him feel as alive as killing Uzumaki would.

They were his two targets: Uzumaki and the other jinchūriki.

"I'll find you…" Gaara whispered, the sand flicking about hungrily.

"Is it just me," Kankurō whispered from Temari's side, "or is Gaara being more violent than normal? I mean, he's actively seeking out teams and attacking them! Normally, he just lets them come to him."

It was true. Gaara rarely actively hunted for kills. But ever since they walked into Konoha, Gaara's bloodlust dramatically rose. And it never sated. Once they stepped into the forest, Gaara had taken the lead—a rare occurrence as well.

It was as if there brother was hunting…

Temari shuddered at the realization. "He's after someone."

Damned be the fool that incurred Gaara's attention.

Killjoy no Jutsu (A.K.A. Author's Note): Man, I'm glad that's over. At more than 12,000 words (not including author's note), I figured it'd be a treat for everyone who stayed with Shattered Eyes even after so many years. Finally, we're coming up to the elimination rounds, which I've wanted to get to for so long, and I'm sure everyone here is going to enjoy them.

I have several reasons I haven't posted in a while. For starters, real life sucks, end of story; the past several months have been absolute hell for me. Thankfully, that's done and over. Not only that, I've been rewriting the first chapters, taking out mistakes, plot holes, etc. I posted this when I was sixteen, and now at twenty-two my skills are far greater than they used to be; I thought it really needed to be done. I promised you quality work when I started and that hasn't changed. Chapter one has already been reposted.

I'm glad that people have accepted Jizenka warmly. She's gives Shizuka a much more human quality that I desired. Personality wise, Jizenka is whimsical and playful like Shizuka, but more mature and down to earth. Her name is also a pun against Shizuka's personality; On Jizenka roughly translates: kind-hearted philanthropist.

It should be noted that the Anko/Iruka scene was my first fluff scene. I'm not sure how I did, and I'm afraid to ask. For the love of God, I'm a guy; this isn't my specialty. Though, it will definitely lead to the funniest scene of Shattered Eyes next chapter.

In the Shattered Eyes mythos, the three sages, Six-Way, Water Moon, and Silver Tears, play an important role in the founding of the ninja world. I thought it would be important to have them play a role in the founding of several countries. Yes, I'm aware of the ten-tails, and the mythos will include it.

Also, I'm accepting omake for Shattered Eyes. I plan on making a chapter dedicated to deleted scenes. It can be funny, awesome, epic, whatever you throw at me. If you can send me something, I'll get it posted here, though I may need to ghostwrite them just in case. Hit me with what you got!

Also, for shits and giggles from now on, I'm incorporating a playlist of music I listen to while writing my stories. I have a broad taste, so I'm sure there's something in my music library anyone can enjoy. Updated chapters from here on out will incorporate their own as well. So, for good music you might miss, look back at those chapters.

Forbidden Scroll of Techniques:

Tessenka no Mai: Hana [鉄線化の舞・花] – Dance of the Clematis: Flower

Taijutsu – Kekkei Genkai Technique: The second half of Kimimaro's fourth dance. To obtain the strongest-absolute hardest weapon a considerable amount of chakra is needed. Enhanced to the highest degree-maximum solidity due to the dense compression, the bone weapon is exceedingly large. Since its destructive power has no meaning if the blow does not connect with the opponent. Kimimaro first binds the opponent with a "vine."

Lithius Osmius's Playlist:

_Shattered Eyes main theme_: The Clincher by Chevelle  
_Battle theme_: Struggle by Apocalyptica  
_Naruto (w/demonic chakra) theme_: Bring Them to Light by Apocalyptica  
_Anko/Iruka theme_: Fall to Pieces by Avril Lavigne  
_Kabuto's theme_: Butterfly Caught by Massive Attack  
_Shattered Eyes end theme_: Hear Me Now by Framing Hanley


	19. Starry Eyes Will Never Make Us Even

Chapter 19- Starry Eyes Will Never Make Us Even

She walked into a disorientating mass of swirling black formlessness – dizzying, yet peaceful; cold, yet comfortable. Her mind was a frigid, black, empty place…

Spinning around, she watched formless darkness erode away like chipped paint until a new image presented itself. In its place a small, cozy room with black and white tiles, a blazing hearth towards the end of the room, and black curtains draping the walls. Where the curtains parted stood a vase on cast-iron stands, each holding black flowers with dangling black berries.

The room smelt strangely, a mixture of metal and the sickening sweet scent of decay.

Glancing downward as something wet caressed her bare feet, Shizuka Komoriuta immediately knew the source of the strange smell. Enveloping her feet in a vast puddle, blood so great in quantity, a river of crimson gently lapped against her feet, washing out a closed door and disappearing just under its gap.

Swallowing down bile, Shizuka forced her eyes upward, only to observe a picture before her even more ghastly and terrifying than the one at her feet: a gothic-themed tea party. A small table sat in the center of the room and on it sat a porcelain teapot, two teacups filled with a thick red liquid, a basket of ivory-white apples, and a small tray holding four pastries, two of which were garnished with… reflective-silver Ping-Pong balls? The other two were also decorated with Ping-Pong balls, only these ones had grey rings.

Upon closer inspection, however, Shizuka discerned shattered irises on the first set and pupils on the other.

But most disconcerting were the chairs – four high-back, black velvet chairs, seated around the table. One sat to the side, empty. Clearly it was waiting for her. Another had its back towards her, and the third had its view obstructed by the second chair. Upon the forth seated and facing Shizuka was…herself.

"Hello!" the doppelgänger whimsically greeted with a pleasant smile, her eyes crinkling with amusement. "How nice of you to join us!"

Golden, pearlescent, and serpentine eyes sharply outlined with eyeliner glimmered from the light of the fireplace.

It took every measure of self-control for Shizuka to not flinch or reveal the anxiety rapidly building within. "What the hell is this?"

"Please, sit! We've _all_ been waiting for you." Her copy gestured towards the other chairs.

Before she could analyze what exactly was happening, Shizuka found herself slowly, cautiously moving toward the empty chair, barely managing not to cringe under her shadow's piercing stare. With every step taken, the stench of death strengthened overwhelmingly so.

"Come now! I thought you were afraid of nothing," the fake mocked, an amused grin twisting her lips, but Shizuka ignored it in favor of tentatively observing the two other chairs' occupants.

"Who's in those chairs?" Komoriuta questioned, stopping in her tracks as her chest twisted. A wisp of blonde hair poked out from the one of the chairs.

The doppelgänger amusedly quirked an eyebrow. "Why don't you come and find out?"

Closing her eyes with a sigh, the redhead demurely took her seat as the guest of honor. Despite the chairs being comfortable (as if fastened for her), Shizuka anxiously shifted against the black velvet.

"Don't close your eyes," the shade playfully chastised. "You'll miss the party."

Reluctantly, she did as told, staring down at the white table cover. The seconds it took to raise her gaze felt like a measurement of infinity. However, she barely withheld snapping her eyes shut at the sight that greeted her.

Two corpses dressed in tattered tuxedos sat in the high-back chairs at her sides. Both were unrecognizable behind the evisceration carved into them, their throats nothing more than ribbons of dripping flesh, their faces torn completely apart, and their cores stabbed uncountable times. From their wounds dripped the ocean of blood at her feet.

The one on her right she didn't recognize, bearing tousled black hair matted by coagulating blood. The other, no matter how torn apart, Shizuka would recognize anywhere: Uzumaki Naruto.

"Shizuka," a voice, so soft and smooth—her own—broke the sickening silence.

Wide eyed and terrified, Komoriuta turned to face her twisted reflection as the being picked up an apple, biting into it. Crimson juice sluiced from the sides her mouth onto her white nightgown.

The coy smile Shizuka received, outlined with vermillion liquid, was downright nightmarish. "We have _much_ to talk about."

"We have nothing to talk about," the fiery redhead snapped. Her countenance looked unaffected, but a pit of fear was rapidly being dug into her soul.

The false Shizuka pouted coyly. "What? Aren't the decorations correct? Isn't this what you wanted?"

"Not like this…" she whispered, a shiver of fear crawling up and down her spine.

"Oh," the doppelgänger's smile turned vicious. "You mean _them_?" She gestured towards the corpses in the other chairs with a sweeping arm. "No, this _is_ what you want! For our enemies to _perish_. But don't worry. Soon, we'll be strong enough to vanquish all of those obstacles."

"But—" She was cut-off by her copy.

"Come now, relax and enjoy the party. Here…" An amused, twisted smirk pulled the shadow's lips as it plucked one of the white fruits from the basket, holding it out to the real Shizuka Komoriuta. "Have an apple."

Shizuka didn't immediately move, locking eyes on the seemingly innocuous fruit. The ivory apple was beautiful, enough so that she was half-way tempted to taste it. But… just looking at it felt _so wrong_.

"_Take it,_" hissed her counterpart, sounding disconcertingly like a _certain_ snake. "_Take it, and make all of your sorrows and fears disappear. Make your dreams come true."_

Against her will, a shaking hand reached out. Every one of Shizuka's senses screamed to stop—that this was a mistake that couldn't be undone—but her body numbly ignored everything. She tenderly pulled the apple away from her shadow's grasp, slowly bringing it to her lips and then breaking its delicate, ashen skin with her teeth.

It tasted like blood.

* * *

Shizuka awoke to the sensation of heaving. Though, with nothing in her stomach to eject, her body settled for hoarsely coughing. Even as consciousness scattered the remains of slumber, the phantom flavor of coppery tang of the ivory, blood-filled apple continued to assault her taste buds.

Never again would she eat anything apple related.

Overwhelming light flooded Shizuka's eyesight, overriding the bitter taste on her tongue and replacing it with pain arcing through her skull. She weakly turned her head away, only for a hand to roughly move it back into place. She opened her mouth to curse the individual, only for a hoarse cough to escape instead.

"How unusual…" Such a familiar, oily voice… _Orochimaru_. Good god, she wanted to _murder_ him!

"Indeed." She didn't know who this fool was, but she'd kill him too! "Who would've thought your juinjutsu would affect the Genzōme in such a fashion?" The bastard had the gall to chuckle

Then his words sunk in, followed by overwhelming panic. What was this about her kekkei genkai!? Did they ruin her prized ability!?

Unbridled raged bubbled over, a snarl escaping her lips.

Unconsciously, Shizuka pulled on her chakra. And the world itself altered for but the briefest of seconds before her miniscule reserves failed her, the effect suddenly dying before it could even begin. However, it'd been enough to force the fallen Sannin and his minion to leap away in surprise.

The lackey laughed. "Wonderful! Her kekkei genkai is a truly dangerous thing."

"Indeed, Shizuka-chan has great capabilities," Orochimaru agreed, a note of humor escaping.

"I-I'm…going…going…" Shizuka gritted out between gulps of air. "…to kill you."

"Kabuto-kun, please put Shizuka-chan back under," the man-snake ordered. "I have use for her, but certain precautions must be taken."

Before Komoriuta could protest, a stinging sensation struck her neck. Immediately, she could feel the edges of her vision darkening. Sedative, and a strong one.

Within seconds, she entered dreamless sleep.

* * *

Team Seven had split with Team Ten a while back, leaving Sasuke, Naruto, and a clone giving an unconscious Sakura a piggyback to rush through the canopy.

Their stay within Training Area 44 was absolute hell from the get-go. They'd been quickly separated, with Naruto fighting off Shizuka Komoriuta while Sasuke and Sakura suffered a one-sided defeat at the hands of Orochimaru. Then everything went from horrible to worse when two of Team Seven were left incapacitated, leaving Naruto (sans Kyōkagan). Finally, there was the follow-up with Orochimaru's servant, Kaguya Kimimaro. When all was said and done, Kabuto handed them an Earth Scroll, but only after a dire threat.

Even as they ran the home stretch towards the tower within the center of the Forest of Death, they felt no relief. It was unspoken, but Naruto and Sasuke knew it: They were running from one pit of hell to another.

Not long after the Ino-Shika-Cho trio departed, Naruto shared the truth of how he obtained the scroll they needed with Sasuke, sans sensitive information involving Bijū or kekkei genkai.

Sasuke's scowl bared his teeth. "Lovely. We're being stalked."

"Couldn't have called it better," Naruto, for once, agreed with the Uchiha.

The clone chipped in. "A creepy guy with a fetish for young teens no less!"

"Naruto," Sasuke deadpanned. "If your clone wasn't carrying Sakura, I would've killed it for making that observation."

"Stand in line. I want a piece of him first," the Uzumaki found himself, yet again, agreeing with his teammate—there was something _really_ wrong with that.

Though they shared words, it did little to slow their speed. They were making excellent time as it was. Though evening fell upon the forest, they would reach the center of the forest before nightfall. As a matter of fact, both were expecting the compound to enter their sights soon.

"Why is that freak so fascinated with us?" Sasuke asked aloud, ignoring the blur of trees.

"Not a clue," Naruto lied. Oh, he knew _exactly_ what the snake-freak was after.

"Sakura and I got bit, but why didn't you?"

"If I knew the answer, I'd tell you." The Uzumaki wondered about that too. If Orochimaru-teme was so fascinated with him, why didn't he get one of those funky seals? Food for thought later when they were safe…

They went silent, the only sound resonating being the air whipping past their ears.

"I just had a bad thought," Sasuke announced.

Naruto groaned. "Come on, prick! What else could you add to our already _impressive_ shit list?"

"The third day is coming to a close, which means the exam is more than halfway finished."

"And…?"

The Uchiha grimaced. "Because everyone is running out of time, there's going to be a scramble for scrolls. We happen to have both scrolls _and_ we're a teammate short. If we meet anyone on the way to the tower, we're going to be considered easy targets."

"Craaaaap," Naruto moaned out, realizing just how much danger they were still in. "Even if we can probably beat their asses, everyone will come after us."

"Listen, loser," Sasuke began, earning a glare from Naruto. "We're down a teammate, my chakra is acting funny because of the damn seal, and you're the only one capable of heavy fighting—even then, I'm being generous. Seriously, if we get into a fight, we run. We don't stop, we don't antagonize anyone. We just _run_."

"Chill out, bastard," the Uzumaki countered. "After these past couple days, and with Sakura still out, I'll avoid—" The blond suddenly looked ahead, a particular scent greeting his nose. "Oi, heads up! The tower is ahead of us!"

Despite both heaving a sigh of relief, they didn't relax. Even as they ran past the tree line, their guard remained raised. If they were going to get attacked, now would be the moment. Though, as they drew near the compound's doors they felt the weight of the test slowly come off their shoulders.

It was only when the doors closed behind them that Naruto and Sasuke relaxed, both collapsing against a wall. The clone, running out of chakra, gently propped Sakura against a wall across from them before it popped out of existence.

"Without heaven…" Naruto muttered, noting the message written on the wall. "What the hell? Hey, use your pink-eye and see if there are any hidden messages or something."

"_Don't insult my Sharingan_," Sasuke growled back.

"It's not _that_ awesome." The Uzumaki was proud to say that he could make such a claim. Though Sasuke didn't know it, the blond was versed in the pinwheel eye's usage. "Besides, it only works on what you can see. It's not like the Byakugan which lets you see even through the back of your head."

"When the hell did you become an expert in kekkei genkai?"

'_Oh, it would be because of this kekkei genkai that allows me to copy other kekkei genkai, which I'm having trouble trying to use again_.' Of course, the jinchūriki didn't say that aloud.

Nonetheless, Sasuke complied—if only to make his teammate shut up. The Sharingan lit up his eyes as he stood to take in their environment, but before he scanned the room his shoulder erupted in pain. The raven-haired boy was forced to take a knee as his hand instinctively reached to the offending tattoo.

Naruto could only face-palm in frustration. "Let me guess, it's disrupting your chakra."

"A-At least you can use your brain once in a while," Sasuke shakily snapped, slowly standing back up.

"…Open… the scrolls…" it was the faintest of chimes, but to both boys it was as blaring as a speaker.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto exclaimed.

They rushed to her side, Naruto crouching down next to Haruno while Sasuke took a knee.

Sakura looked as if she was on the Shinigami's doorstep. Dark rings surrounded her eyes and her complexion bordered ghostly. Still, she was awake, and both boys couldn't ask for more. Not after the hell they experienced.

"You okay?" Sasuke asked.

"…I'm not sure," she whispered, her glassy eyes barely focusing on Sasuke. "…My chakra feels weird… And that spot hurts…"

"Where that snake-freak bit you," Naruto clarified, pointedly eyeing the strange curved marks on her neck.

"…I'm tired…" she breathed out, her eyes closing seconds later.

"Sakura, stay with us!" Sasuke ordered, shaking her. "Don't go to sleep! _Don't sleep_!"

When she didn't stir, the Uchiha nearly panicked, pressing a finger against her neck to confirm she was still alive. His heart slowed as he felt a weak but steady pulse.

"Hey, help me with these," Naruto ordered as he moved away from his teammates to his pack, pulling out the two scrolls. "The faster we get out of here, the faster Sakura gets help. And maybe we can figure out what that freak did to you and Sakura."

Sasuke wordlessly joined the blond, grabbing the Heaven Scroll. With a deep breath, both boys unfurled their scrolls. Suddenly, the paper started smoking.

The Uchiha instantly identified what was happening. "Throw them away! They're summoning scrolls!"

Both tossed away the volatile objects, which exploded into smoke upon contacting the ground.

"What's happening?!" Naruto asked, his hands entering into the hand seal for _Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_.

Sasuke, Sharingan active despite the pain in his shoulder, followed his teammate's example. "Who knows? But we've come too far to back—"

Iruka's voice suddenly broke past the smoke shrouding his figure, startling both boys. "You've got to be kidding me…"

-0-

In Konoha, evening peacefully drew to a close. Children prepped for bed, lamps and lights came alive, and shops darkened as their owners readied to rejoin their families. It was the perfect scene of peace.

…Until it was broken by a scream that resounded throughout the village, terrifying nearby birds and animals, making babies cry, and scaring the hell out of Morino Ibiki in his underground interrogation office.

"FUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKK YOOOUUUU, NARUTO!" Anko Mitarashi earth-shatteringly screamed.

Jiraiya laughed so hard from the sight he fell out of his tree and into the garbage dumpster below.

* * *

The moment Kakashi watched the sight of his haggard students entering the facility via the cameras, he rushed to meet them. Jizenka chose to follow, but he wouldn't tell her to leave—Naruto was the last person to come into contact with her niece after all.

They looked like they went through hell. Their clothes were so torn and dirty they looked like beggars off the streets. With the bruises he was sporting, Sasuke looked like he came out of several bar fights. Naruto, on the other hand, didn't have so much as a scratch marring his skin, though his clothes (borderline rags) told another story. Sakura seemed to be in the most pristine condition, but even she looked like she went through a gauntlet, and unlike the boys she wasn't active—that really scared Kakashi, especially after the incident in which she got Kinton.

After jogging through several halls, both adults stopped as they met Naruto and Sasuke (carrying Sakura) just entering into compound.

Strangely, both wore haunted looks, as if they were made to suffer a thousand years of eldritch horrors.

"Are your students alright?" Jizenka questioned, raising a brow. "The look like they had another run-in with that Ibiki fellow."

"Naruto, Sasuke, what's wrong?" Kakashi questioned, his eyebrows furrowing.

"…I felt a part of myself die that I'll never get back," Naruto numbly whispered, wide-eyed and looking ready to vomit.

Sasuke's left eye erratically twitched. "…I had my Sharingan on. Now, it's forever burned into my mind."

"Uh, what are you guys talking about?" Kakashi asked worriedly.

Wait… Why was Naruto missing his jacket? Didn't he walk into the compound wearing it?

The strange question was answered when Iruka walked around the corner, hair down and without clothing. Using said jacket to protect his modesty.

Jizenka blushed and kindly turned her back towards him. Kakashi tried holding it in, but when he identified the scent of sex wafting off Iruka, all control went out the window. The scarecrow was laughing so hard he doubled over.

Kakashi stood straight to try and maintain a modicum of professionalism, but was failing miserably. "Ah, f-forgot you were on scroll duty, d-didn't you?"

"Yeah…"

Hatake doubled over again. "T-That's absolutely horrible. But damn if isn't funny."

The ozone in the air was quite telling. "…If the situation wasn't so desperate, I'd melt your face off."

* * *

"Naruto, where are your goggles?" Kakashi asked, from his seat on a bed. "For that matter, what happened to the Kyōkagan? And if I remember correctly, aren't your eyes supposed to be blue?"

After sending off Sasuke to deliver Sakura to the medical ward, the three older ninja pulled Naruto aside so he could regal them about their time in Hell—all three were eager to hear it for various reasons. Commandeering an empty room, they locked it and let the questions fly.

Said blond nervously looked at Jizenka, who kindly smiled back from her seat next to a desk. "Uh, why did you just say that in front of her?"

"Long story, but the short of it is: she knows about the Kyōkagan," the scarecrow answered, noting a freshly clothed Iruka's raised eyebrow. The Hatake gave the teacher a roll of eyes, a signal for later explanation. "Anyways, back to the question…"

"I wouldn't be surprised if everyone and their dogs knew at this point…" the blond murmured in frustration.

Nonetheless, Naruto pulled out his destroyed goggles, displaying them to everyone.

"They broke during my fight with this girl, Shizuka," the Uzumaki explained. "She's this crazy bitch who's tried to kill me twice already."

Jizenka flinched. "Twice? _Really_?" '_Thanks, Shizuka... Nice of you to leave your aunty nothing but messes to clean up…'_

"Oh, yeah. She was spying on me before the Chunin Exams, and then when she found out about the Kyōkagan she tried to kill me so that my team couldn't get into the second part. First time, she almost did until this old guy named Jiraiya saved me. Second time, even though I knew how to fight her, she almost won. If I hadn't activated this weird ability with the Kyōkagan, I would've died."

Jizenka face-palmed. She knew about the death-match in the forest, but she missed the pre-exam attempted murder. Lovely…

Iruka furrowed his brows. "Weird ability?"

"Yeah. It was…" Naruto took several seconds to grasp adequate words, a thoughtful frown marring his face—though, he wondered if it was possible to even describe everything. "I don't remember what happened the first time during my fight with Shizuka. Second time, though, I used it against Orochimaru. I _remember_ the feeling from then. It felt like… something snapped. I couldn't think clearly; my thoughts were all over the place. And the longer the battle went, the fuzzier it becomes.

"But, then the chakra stopped because a certain bitch-that-shall-not-be-named used her chakra to stop everything." Kakashi and Iruka immediately knew who—or more accurately, _what_—he was talking about. Jizenka, on the other hand, was hoping Naruto wasn't talking about her niece again. "Screwed up my coils for a little while, but they're starting to feel better. It's why my eyes are red."

Iruka was quick to put the pieces together. "So, the reason you can't use the Kyōkagan is because that other chakra is suppressing it."

"Yup."

Kakashi rubbed his face tiredly. "That explains several things. What does this weird ability do?"

"Uh… well…" the genin tried to explain. "I'm not sure. I mean, the part before everything went fuzzy… I'd say it's like using a lot of the _other_ chakra."

The former ANBU sighed, accepting that this was all they'd get. "Alright, what about Orochimaru?"

Naruto frowned, vividly remembering the snake-freak. "While I was fighting Shizuka, he kicked Sakura and Sasuke's asses. And then when he beat them, he put on this weird mark on them—"

"Ah, shit," it was one of the very rare moments Iruka cursed, running a hand across his face. "As if things couldn't get worse…"

"What's wrong?" Kakashi anxiously asked.

"They got marked by a cursed seal," Iruka announced. Kakashi's single eye hardened as he recognized the term. "Tomorrow, we'll need to get Jiraiya-sama over here. Otherwise, those seals are going to mess with Sasuke and Sakura."

"Excuse me," Jizenka interjected. "What's bad about these curse seals?"

"They're seals that can give a surge of chakra in certain situations, even going so far as to give the user exotic abilities." Iruka explained—Anko was kind enough to regale him with the details her _ex_-sensei's betrayal. "But it's dangerous for the body. Worse yet, the seals can influence a person's behavior in a negative manner. No doubt Orochimaru wants to corrupt those two for whatever reason."

"That's what that snake-freak did?!" Naruto barked.

"Don't worry about it," Kakashi said, turning his lone eye to his student. "We're going to get ahold of Jiriaya-sama—the man that saved you from Shizuka the first time—and ask him for a way to isolate those seals' corruptive influence. I'd do it myself, but I'm afraid that whatever I come up with would be shoddy at best."

"…Sama?" the genin asked.

Iruka sighed. "If you hadn't slept through that lecture, you'd know that Jiraiya-sama and Orochimaru, alongside Tsunade-sama—whom you haven't met—were all former teammates and are a group known famously as the Sannin. They're some of the strongest ninja Konoha has produced."

"Oh, so that Jiraiya guy is freakishly strong? He didn't look it."

"It's not really known how strong he is," Kakashi explained. "But I'd say he can beat either Iruka or me. Possibly even both of us—though, I don't know how much of an exaggeration that might be."

Naruto's eyes were wide with awe. "Dude, I should find this guy again and have him teach me some awesome jutsu or something."

"Another time. For now, we have other things to worry about," Iruka said, steering the conversation back to the original topic. "What else happened in the forest?"

"After Sasuke and Sakura got bit, they got sick," the Uzumaki explained. "For a couple days, I basically just watched over them, hoping they'd either get better or I got help. I also took some time to get control of that other chakra, especially since my control started to suck again."

"Anything else?" Jizenka pushed.

"Yeah, then this freaky guy with a kekkei genkai named Kimimaro attacked me. He wanted me to copy his kekkei genkai called Shikyotsumatsu for the snake-bastard."

"But you couldn't because of the Kyōkagan being suppressed," Iruka clarified, simultaneously filing away the name of the newly mentioned kekkei genkai.

For some reason, it sounded familiar…

Naruto grimaced. "Yeah, he almost killed me too. At least until the other chakra got out of control again."

Jizenka's eyes nearly popped out of her skull. "Wait, you're a jinchūriki too?"

Kakashi face-palmed while Iruka sighed in frustration.

The Uzumaki threw up his arms in exasperation. "_Great_! Can't I have a secret that's _actually_ a secret?"

"So, your Bijū's chakra is suppressing the Kyōkagan…" Jizenka observed, eyeing Naruto like he was specimen under a microscope. "Fascinating…"

"Please stop looking at me like you're going to dissect me," the blond begged. "I got enough of that from Kabuto-teme…" He snapped his fingers in remembrance. "That reminds me. Yakushi Kabuto is a spy. He works for snake-bastard too."

Ozone instantly flooded the room. "Thank you, Naruto. I needed that information."

"Yeah, he threatened me too. Told me that if anyone from Team Seven dropped out there'd be "consequences"," Naruto said, making air quotes. "But he also handed us an Earth Scroll—which is what we needed to pass."

"It confirms our observation," Jizenka noted, pointedly looking at Kakashi.

"Indeed." Iruka optically demanded an explanation from the copy-cat, which the Hatake obliged. "Jizenka-san and I guessed that Orochimaru would want a place to better observe the Kyōkagan. Since there were so many passing teams this year, there was the likelihood of a preliminary round. It's the perfect place for anyone to observe the genin."

"We should let Hokaga-sama know," Iruka said. "We might be able to set a trap."

"It's what we thought too," Hatake said. "I'm hoping to get Tenzo in on this as well."

"Okay, let me get this straight," the teacher announced, beginning to pace. "You guys got separated, resulting in you fighting Shizuka-san and Sakura and Sasuke fighting Orochimaru. After that, you confronted Orochimaru yourself. For three days you watched Sasuke and Sakura, and then fought Kimimaro. When did Yakushi get in on this?"

"Right after my fight with Kimimaro," Naruto clarified. "Oh, and Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji helped me out with that guy." He then visibly gulped. "…And Ino saw me using the other chakra."

"Another problem added to the pile…" Kakashi ran a hand across his face exasperation. "Now we need to run damage control too at the _other_ end of the spectrum."

"Are you guys trying to keep his status as a jinchūriki as a secret?" Jizenka questioned.

Kakashi really wanted the woman to stay out of their business, but he'd be obliging since the cat was out of the bag. And it would prevent her from getting any ideas—like conjuring more blackmail material. "The younger residents of Konoha aren't aware of Naruto's status, and we're trying to keep it that way. Unfortunately, the villagers found a way around it, and passed on their hatred to their children. Admittedly, it was a rather poor attempt to allow Naruto a chance to grow up normally in the company of his peers."

Said jinchūriki was trying to ignore the subject at hand, but was failing miserably. His countenance darkened with every syllable.

Jizenka pursed her lips, sadly eying the preteen. "I see."

"_Why is everybody afraid of me?!"_

She shook her head in vain attempt to dislodge the memory. '_Now's not the time for that.'_

"Still, what are we going to do about Ino?" Iruka asked, looking to his senior for answers.

Naruto surprised everyone with his answer. "I was going to talk to her about it."

Umino's features softened towards his former student. "Are you sure?"

The youth shrugged nonchalantly, trying to hide how nervous he was with the impending conversation. "I don't know what else to do. "

"Alright," the teacher agreed. "But if it comes to the worse, Kakashi or I will just tell Ino to abide by the law. It's not preferable, but it'll keep her mouth shut. Speaking of which, who's going to alert the Hokage?"

"It might be preferable that you do it," Kakashi suggested. "I would like Jizenka-san and I to watch the perimeter. Combined, the both of us should be able to identify Orochimaru or Yakushi Kabuto should they make an appearance."

"That'll do, I guess," Iruka agreed. "If that's it, let's get things set. Naruto, get some rest. After everything you've been through, I'm sure you need a break."

The blond wept anime tears. "I forgot what it's like to sleep in an actual bed!"

* * *

Sasuke sighed, hands in pockets as he stared down at Sakura's sleeping form. Cleaned and dressed in fresh clothing, one would've never guessed she went through the Forest of Death. And how peaceful she looked...

The Uchiha wished he could feel such serenity.

Sasuke felt relieved that the adults chose Naruto to explain everything. Without the constant high of adrenaline or the endless threat of death hanging of his head, his emotions were running rampant. So many cycled through his soul, Sasuke barely identified any of them. Tiredness, relief, defeat, depression, anger, bitterness… so many more. When had he ever felt like this?

Every moment since becoming a genin ran through his mind like an overplayed movie. The triumphs, the failures, his interactions with his teammates… everything. There were times he felt like he was on top of the world; and others, barely scraping by.

Reexamining his life, he could only ask one question: "Why?"

The low-lighted room provided no answer. Only the beeping of machines attached to Sakura broke the silence.

That single word carried with it every question he felt in his mind. Why did he suddenly care about what happened to his teammates? Some days, why did it feel like the entire world was out to get his team? How little did he know of his teammates? Why were Sakura and Naruto getting so strong while he stagnated? Why did such a chasm of power exist between Itachi and him?

His teeth visibly ground as his thoughts drifted towards his traitorous brother._ 'Itachi, don't think I've forgotten about you.'_

Though, the bitter thought caught Sasuke off guard. When was the last time he actually thought about his brother? Days? Months maybe? He couldn't remember. Sure, there was a stray thought regarding the elder Uchiha, but nothing beyond. During times, thoughts of his murderous sibling were instead put to the backburner in favor of his interactions with his teammates.

When did he become so distracted from his goals? Wasn't he an avenger? Wouldn't he only find peace when he turned his brother into a worm feast?

However, upon laying eyes on Sakura's still form, all negativity drained away from Sasuke's visage.

In Nami no Kuni, he vividly relived the battle with Zabuza, Naruto's subsequent brilliance, and the training they undertook to get stronger. Not long after, they fought a dramatic battle against the missing-nin and his lackey. And then Sasuke did the unthinkable by sacrificing his life for Naruto.

Afterwards when all was calm, he distinctly remembered how Sakura and he failed to uncover Naruto's secrets, and instead became victims of someone else's schemes. Then came there spar-turned-death-match against their blond teammate—Sasuke was positive he would've won had Kakashi not intervened. Sakura then got sick, bringing out emotions Sasuke hadn't felt in a long time—hadn't he bought her flowers for her stay in the hospital too? Before the exam, he remembered watching Sakura practice kenjutsu, and failing spectacularly at it too; he pitied his female teammate as he watched her go through several atrocious stances, leading him to offer some pointers. Then he bought her a katana on whim.

So many memories. And not an ounce of hatred to be found.

Sasuke bitterly laughed, tears stinging the edges of his eyes.

When he thought of everything Team Seven weathered, the burdens of the past seemed so much lighter. The sorrow gave way to laughter and smiles, and Itachi's crimson gaze became a half-forgotten nightmare.

"What are you and Naruto doing to me?" the Uchiha asked.

Still no answer.

He was an avenger. Nothing more, nothing less… Right?

* * *

Jizenka sat on the edge of the compound, resting her head against her hands.

The conversation with Kakashi's student gave her much to think about. Among which, were issues she thought done with.

When raising her niece, Jizenka held great hope and pride that Shizuka would become the daughter her sister and brother-in-law would've envisioned. Although her personality was her father's—with all that personal pride and such—Shizuka's appearance was all her mother's. Jizenka had done her best to iron out her niece's character flaws, but she also tried to keep a somewhat gentle hand to not break Shizuka's spirit. For all the good that did her…

"_Why is everybody afraid of me?!"_

It was a horrible echo, a reminder that at some point she failed Shizuka.

That said, Uzumaki Naruto had every right to hate Shizuka. Her niece was letting a personal vendetta with no grounding cloud her judgment, creating openings for rash decisions and failures. Naturally, the consequences were pricey.

It was ironic, though. Shizuka was trying to kill the one person that could emphasize with her more than anybody else.

Still, nobody deserved suffering at the hands of Orochimaru. Even her wannabe-avenger niece. And Jizenka prayed to whatever entity might listen that her sister's daughter came back unharmed.

"Stupid little, pain-in-the-ass—" the retired Iwa jonin muttered, only to be interrupted by Kakashi.

"Referring to your student?" The amusement in his words wasn't hidden.

She sighed again. "You mean my cute, homicidal niece? Yep."

"Sounds like a ball of fun," he sarcastically observed.

"I'm surprised she made it past her eighth birthday with how often I wanted to ring her neck," Jizenka said. "She's always been a rebellious child… And then she pulls crap like this."

Kakashi chuckled. "Sounds like my own little avenger, Sasuke. Thankfully, it seems like he's been mellowing out."

"Lucky you…" Jizenka sarcastically deadpanned.

"Anyways…" the copy-cat adopted a business tone. "Things set up?"

"My mantises are all over the place," Jizenka said. "If they see any of our targets, we'll know. How 'bout your end?"

"My ninken are all over the place," Kakashi said. "If Orochimaru or the traitor Yakushi Kabuto shows up, they'll immediately start causing a ruckus."

On Jizenka raised a brow. "Dogs…? Well, whatever works I guess…"

The copy-cat only smiled. "Oh, just wait…"

* * *

Being the lighter of the two sleepers, Sasuke was the first to wake to a rather annoying knocking. Blinking away the dust in his eyes, he turned towards Naruto in the other bed, only to see the idiot still sleeping peacefully. '_How can the idiot…'_

Sasuke's eyes narrowed as another round of knocking resounded. "This had better be good…" he groused, swinging the blankets over to leave the warmth of his bed.

With an angry grimace he stomped towards the door, swinging it open just as the intruder readied to knock again.

Under normal circumstances, Ino would've squeed at the sight of Sasuke answering the door. This wasn't one of those moments. Eyes bloodshot, hair an absolute mess, rings around his eyes, and glaring down at her, all the Yanamaka could do was nervously laugh at the sight. Wow, he looked ready to murder somebody…

"Uh, hi Sasuke-kun!" she greeted.

The door slammed in her face.

With a sigh, Ino went on. "Look, I need to talk to Naruto. It's really important."

Silence for a minute, and then Sasuke yelling. Another moment of silence, and then a loud bang resounded followed closely by Naruto's voice. "Holy hell, asshole! Did you really need to a throw a chair!? Hey, wait-! Don't you dare go back to bed! I'm not done with—O-Okay, just put the hands down! N-No need for fire jutsu!"

Naruto chuckled nervously as he quietly closed the door from behind. Once away from the Uchiha's range, he grumbled under his breath while rubbing the developing knot on his head.

However, once his eyes fell upon Ino, he sighed. Gods, how he'd been dreading this…

"Uh… Can I get dressed real fast?" he asked, doing so to delay the conversation with every second possible.

The Yanamaka rolled her eyes. "I know what you're doing." Naruto gulped. "But, yeah, go ahead. Just hurry it up."

"Yes, ma'am," he agreed. The sunny blond almost teleported back into his room.

Ino examined her nails as she waited. Man, they were dirty. Definitely a manicure once—

Her thoughts were interrupted by shouting. "Oi, Teme, chill the hell out! I'm just trying to get dressed!" Silence. "Boo-hoo. I was the one watching Sakura-chan and you while you were—" BAM! "Ha! Missed! Poor alarm clock had no—" Something shattered; then more silence.

Yamanaka heard footsteps, then a turning door handle. Naruto appeared in the doorway, wearing a set of fresh clothes that looked recently bought. He wore a black shirt, a blue combat vest with spirals on the shoulders, and a pair of black cargo pants with blue decals and trimmings.

There was also a vague shape of a lamp's base imprinted on his forehead. If she looked a little harder, Ino might've even sworn that she could see the maker's name on there too.

"Right," Naruto began, sounding pained. "Let's hurry before Sasuke decides to throw the microwave at me too."

* * *

"What's with the bitch in the barrel?" Tayuya questioned.

Her and the rest of the Sound Four sat surrounding the barrel inscribed with seals, waiting for the latest recipient of Orochimaru's curse seal to awaken. Observing the procedure was Kabuto and their master, both of which excitedly eyed the barrel.

Normally, neither the Sannin nor his right-hand man bothered with what was a standard practice, but Komoriuta Shizuka wasn't normal. Once awake, there was no predicting what happened next. Though the Sound Four were dangerous altogether, they couldn't match the Genzōme. Not after what the Cursed Void Seal did to it.

"She has interesting qualities we're going to use," Kabuto curtly explained.

"Well, wasn't that fucking descriptive…" the redhead complained.

"She looked pretty worthless," Sakon tacked on.

"Her kekkei genkai suggests otherwise," Orochimaru said, prompting the team to pay attention. "Shizuka-chan's dōjutsu is so powerful she wears specific eyewear to insure she maintains control of it. Do not underestimate her."

"She can't be—" Kidomaru began, only to be interrupted by Kabuto.

"Yes, she is powerful, enough so to give Kimimaro-kun a challenge," Kabuto countered before the spider-like ninja could get a note in. "Especially after the cursed seal was applied."

Their conversation was interrupted as the barrel exploded, scattering debris and clouding the room in smoke. The Sound Four jumped into readied stances, though Kabuto and Orochimaru remained calm.

Then Shizuka charged out of the fog towards the four-eyed medic. Just as she reached her target, Jirobo appeared at her side and punched her away, only for the illusion to shatter like glass and then dissipate into snowflakes of chakra.

Light trailing her iridescent eyes, Shizuka emerged from the darkness behind Sakon, knife poised to drive into his skull. Kidomaru, however, covered his ally's, throwing an array of golden kunai at Komoriuta only for them to phase through the apparition.

"Genjutsu specialist!" the spider-like ninja announced.

The Sound Four went back-to-back, suspiciously eyeing the surrounding darkness for any sign of the Genzōme.

However, they weren't her target. Shizuka appeared from Orochimaru's shadow like a swimmer breaking the water's surface, her balisong poised to stab at the base of the Sannin's skull. Only to drop to the ground, writhing in pain and biting her lip to stop from screaming.

"Ah, Shizuka-chan, it was nice try. I'll give you that much," the snake-man complimented as he turned to her, watching as she shakily rose. "It was even beautifully executed. You put my guards on the defense so they wouldn't react in time to stop your attack. However, you overlooked one very important fact: I'm the most dangerous person here."

"What did you do to me_ this time?!_" Shizuka demanded, her angry, green eyes boring into his skull with an eerie glow.

"You're predictable," Orochimaru began, slowly circling and eyeing the Komoriuta, as if appraising her worth like an art dealer would a sculpture. "You're dangerous, an attack dog with a grudge. The moment you're off your leash, you'll bite any hand within reach. But, that's alright. I have use for such a dog.

"For that reason, while you were unconscious from the application process of my cursed seal, I decided to take precautions. I placed several of my snakes inside of your body. And according my whims…"

He raised a hand. Shizuka dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes as her body ignited in agony. Just as quickly as the sensation assaulted her, though, it fled. Shakily, she pressed a hand against the ground, slowly rising, all the while glaring daggers at the snake-like menace.

"…You can suffer greatly. Even die," the fallen Sannin continued. "But again, I have use of your talents."

"I _hate_ you _so much_," Shizuka growled out past clenched teeth, leaning against a wall for support.

The snake-man chuckled. "An understandable notion. Nonetheless, I'm going to lay out some rules. Disobey them, and the snakes within your body will see fit to punish you. Depending on the offense, it might even be… dramatic, and maybe even messy—it'd be sad if you're aunt had to retrieve your remains off a wall using a sponge, wouldn't it?"

"Fine," Shizuka bitingly agreed, feeling the tail of a snake writhe just under the skin of her arm, as if in warning—it was such a disgusting sensation. "What are the rules, Hebi-teme?"

"First, you will not attack Kabuto-kun and I," Orochimaru outlined, ignoring the insult—though, his subordinates looked ready to jump down her throat. "Neither will you disobey our orders, nor reveal any sensitive information. Simple, right?"

Shizuka spitefully spat at him, but the Sannin lazily dodged. The wet projectile instead hit Sakon in the eye, earning laughter from his comrades.

"It appears she's not eager to serve us, Orochimaru-sama," Kabuto humorously observed, walking up beside his master. "I can see why you took such precautions."

"For your first mission," the snake summoner went on, "you will capture Team Seven. All three of them."

"How 'bout not no, but _hell_ no'?" Shizuka's face once again met the ground in pain as the writhing snakes inside her body suggested otherwise.

The traitor chuckled. "Do I have to go over the rules again?"

With a snap of his fingers, the Sound Four stood at attention by their master's side, awaiting orders.

"Bind and silence her," Orochimaru ordered. "Tomorrow morning, I want her back in Training Area 44. She has her orders. And I'm positive she'll obey."

"Yes, master!" they chorused, immediately setting to work.

His reptilian eyes pointedly stared at the girl curled up on the ground, breathing hard from the pain her wracking body.

Komoriuta Shizuka's uses were immense. By herself, her strength was greater than the pathetic Sound Four, an asset Orochimaru intended to milk for all its worth. The Genzōme alone had enormous potential for subterfuge, distractions, and mind-control. And in a worse-case scenario, she'd make an excellent container. This was made better by the inclusion of the Genzōme's unexpected… reaction to the _Kū no Juin_—who could've known his cursed seals would affect a kekkei genkai in such a way?

The last thought elicited a chuckle from the Sannin.

Shizuka's primary purpose in his plans overall, though, were far simpler than that: She was merely a test, a hurdle for his future container to overcome. Retrieving Sasuke, Sakura, or Naruto was merely icing on the cake.

"Kabuto-kun," Orochimaru began, watching the Sound Four's backs as they bound their irate cargo. "Would you kindly observe Shizuka-chan? I'm sure she's feeling frustrated with the current events and will likely seek an outlet for it. It'd be a perfect opportunity to observe her kekkei genkai."

His most loyal servant chuckled. "Of course, Orochimaru-sama."

* * *

'_Man, these clothes are nice_,' Naruto observed, trying—but failing—to distract himself from his current conundrum. '_Iruka-sensei and Anko-nee really went all out on these. But, why do they feel so heavy?_'

(Strangely, every time he thought of his sister figure, Naruto felt like he was walking over his grave.)

The jinchūriki was drawn from his thoughts by someone clearing his throat. Groaning, he remembered his situation.

Naruto and Ino had retreated to just outside the compound, making sure to remain within its boundaries lest they get accidentally targeted by another team. Though both would've preferred to have the conversation inside, there was no telling if someone might accidentally walk in on it. Due to the scale of the secret and how personal it was to Naruto, he didn't want to take chances.

Ino sat on a large rock, watching as Naruto paced back and forth like a pendulum. Her chin sat comfortably on her interwoven fingers, carefully measuring Naruto's every movement and emotional display.

Being rooted in psychology since she was little, the Yamanaka found it fascinating watching her fellow blond cycle through so many feelings. Despite the Uzumaki being an idiot back in the academy, Ino had to remind herself that everyone's personality was multifaceted, and that Naruto was no exception. Back then, all she saw was stupid happiness from him and nothing more; though, if she wasn't paying attention to Sasuke so much, she might've been able to pick up more. So, to see Naruto displaying emotions like apprehension and fear—just to name a few—was almost alien.

Naruto stopped, taking several calming breaths before he turned to his fellow blonde. "So, uh, what you do want to know?" Maybe if he played his cards right, Ino would never have to know the truth.

"What was that?" Ino asked, leaning forward in anticipation. "I mean, we couldn't touch that bone guy, but when you used that freaky chakra, you beat the crap out of him."

One could hope… "Well, uh…" the Uzumaki had to take another breath. "I'm not entirely sure myself."

"What do mean '_I'm not entirely sure'_!?" Ino looked frustrated. Why couldn't the stupid idiot just give her a straight answer?

"Well, it was the first time I used _that_," he answered. That wasn't a lie. Not at all… "I didn't know I could do hat red, blobby… thing."

The platinum blonde pursed her lips. "You know what caused it." It wasn't a question.

"Well, I have an idea…" Okay, that didn't work. Time for a different tactic.

'_Someone's trying to worm themselves out of a situation~_' sing-songed a certain vixen in the back of his mind.

'_Shut up,_' Naruto mistakenly let his frustration show on his face. '_You're not helping._'

Ino misconstrued his look's meaning. "So you know _exactly_ what it is. Stop lying—you suck at it."

Uzumaki face-palmed all the while trying to ignore the Kyūbi's impish chuckles coming from his mind.

"Okay, fine!" he declared, exasperatingly throwing his hands into the air. "I have the Kyūbi sealed inside of me."

Silence. Then Ino heatedly glared. "Dammit, Naruto that wasn't funny! If you don't stop making fun of me, I'll use my _Shintenshin_—"

Said jinchūriki exasperatedly shook his head. "I wasn't joking that time."

Ino furrowed her brows. "Fine, I'll play your stupid game. Then how the hell would you fit a mountain-sized demon inside of—"

She abruptly stopped when Naruto pulled up his shirt and channeled chakra, revealing a spiral, sun-like tattoo. Ino's eyebrows flew into her hairline.

"The same way you put a kunai into a piece of paper," Naruto answered matter-of-factly. "With a seal." The design disappeared as he lowered his shirt. His outlook became solemn. "Did you know that I was born on October tenth? What happened that day?"

"The K-Kyūbi attack," Ino answered, wide-eyed and visibly shaken.

Uzumaki nodded. "So, when the Yondaime couldn't kill the Kyūbi, he had to figure out another way to save everyone—"

"…So he put it inside of someone," Ino breathed, her eyes reflecting every ounce of her shock.

A pregnant silence developed between the two, one waiting on glass for a reaction while the other digested everything with stunned disbelief.

Finally, the Yanamaka broke the silence. "That explains so much… Why the adults don't like you… and why… we… were always told to stay away from you." She looked ashamed for the admittance, pulling her knees to her chest and resting her forehead on them.

"Yeah," Naruto confirmed, nervously rubbing the back of his neck. "I… don't fully understand why, though. Some people were angry with the Kyūbi and just took their sorrows out on me by proxy. Others… thought I was the Kyubi." Mizuki came to mind. Before the traitor died an agonizing death.

She looked up in shock. "Why?! How could they do that?!" The jinchūriki just shrugged. It astonished Ino that Naruto could be so nonchalant about the village's hatred towards him. What kind of mental fortitude did it take to withstand so much hatred without breaking? It was mind boggling! "But, you're not the Kyūbi!"

Ino remembered many of Naruto's smiles during the academy. Looking back, they looked… so fake, forced. As if he was trying to lie to himself. How could she have missed it? Didn't she teethe on psychology scrolls as a baby?

But, the smile she received now… So sincere, so warm. Naruto's true smile. Ino basked in the presence of the face behind the mask, memorizing the real Naruto.

"I wish more people thought like that," were those tears prickling at the edges of his eyes?

Yet again, Ino wondered why she hadn't paid closer attention while in the academy. Since the beginning of the exam, she felt her shortcomings, especially compared to the monsters. But now… now she really felt them. To miss something hidden like the real Naruto, to miss something she was _trained_ to pick out… Just another thing to add to her laundry list of failures and incompetency.

Somehow, someway she'd make it up to him. Though, a journey needed a step to begin…

She smirked mischievously. "Nah, you can't be the Kyūbi. You're too much of a knucklehead."

"Oi! That's not nice!"

'_She's right you know,_' interjected the fox herself. '_You brain lacks… Well, everything._'

'_Quit killing the moment, dammit!_'

'_Stop choosing the Kyōkagan over me. Then maybe I'll be a bit more… friendlier._' Naruto shook his head, hoping to dislodge her voice from his mind.

Another silence befell. Unlike the last, though, there was a certain comfort between the two.

However, when Ino spoke up she sounded shyly curious. "So, uh, what does it look like?"

"What look like what?"

"The Kyūbi."

"Oh," Naruto pressed a finger to his chin in thought. "Well, she's a redhead. Ruby eyes. Maybe a little taller than me. I'd say…" He bobbed his head in thought, "…a D-cup."

Ino launched a pebble at Naruto, the object painfully bouncing off his cheek. "That wasn't funny either!"

The sunny-blond rubbed at his slighted skin. "Hey, I'm telling the truth! The Kyūbi is—!"

The only warning Ino had was Naruto's eyes widening.

Before she could ask anything, Naruto threw her over his shoulder and leapt backwards. Just as a crater formed from an impact of sand.

After sliding to a stop, Uzumaki wiped away the tell-tale grit unnaturally clinging to him with his free hand, inwardly cursing his luck.

"Can't I get a break from someone trying to kill me for more than day?" Naruto lamented, weeping anime tears.

"Naruto, what the hell is going on?!" Ino demanded, thrashing about on said boy's shoulder like a fish trying get loose. "Let go of me, you pervert!"

"Stop squirming!" the other blond ordered.

"Uzumaki Naruto," a new voiced coldly noted. "I see you've passed the second exam."

"Sup' Gaara," Uzumaki greeted, turning towards the red ghoul stalking from the tree line.

Behind their little brother, Temari and Kankuro stood a distance away, as if trying to sidestep their sibling's wrath. Both looked shaken, a fact Naruto didn't miss nor like.

Kyūbi, of all moments, manifested herself, appearing from behind his back. "Uh, Naruto-kun, I should warn you—"

Gaara suddenly grinned maniacally, his eyes suddenly shifting into a golden color with a star-shaped pupil. Immense killing intent flooded the immediate area, drowning anyone with a weak constitution through its unmerciful torrent. Temari and Kankuro panicked and dashed towards the relative safety of the forest.

"Uh, I don't like that smile…" the Uzumaki decided, only partially paying an ear to his prisoner.

"Yes, about that smile…" the Kyūbi continued, a minute trace of anxiety staining her voice—she was far from afraid of the insane tanuki, but Naruto wasn't exactly invincible. "You see, Shukaku—the Ichibi—doesn't really like me. The demon sealed in Gaara. You do remember that, right?"

Naruto nervously eyed that sand hungrily spiraling in the air. "It's kinda hard to forget something like that. _Gettothepoint_."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Ino snapped, unable to see the happenings. "Dammit, Naruto, what's going on?!"

The Kyūbi and Naruto ignored her, with the faux human continuing. "The Bijū can sense each other. Normally, this isn't a great issue. However, Shukaku—who senses me through you—is quite insane and homicidal, with a deep hatred for his brethren and, by proxy, their containers. And if I were you, I'd start running."

"MOTHERFU—!"

Naruto stopped mid-curse as a tsunami of sand rose up and charged at Ino and he. The sun-kissed preteen spun the other way, drawing on a fair chunk of the Kyūbi's chakra to launch towards safety as the wave engulfed the ground.

"What the…" Ino watched as tendrils of sand rocketed towards them, her eyes widening to the size of dinner plates at the sight of an insane Gaara. "_Runfasterrunfasterrunfaster!You'renotrunningfasten ough!_"

Naruto leapt with his all his might, dodging the tendrils as they speared the ground and meeting the walls of the compound with his soles. Channeling all chakra he could to his muscles, Naruto scurried up and away from the insane jinchūriki below.

"_Left_!" the Yamanaka suddenly ordered. Her would-be rescuer followed the command, barely dodging a fountain of sound. "_Right_!" she shouted. As before, he barely slid past another explosion of grit. "Three incoming; rush three o'clock to dodge!" Naruto was surprised at the accuracy of her prediction, but he wasn't complaining; they were going to get out of this alive.

Grinning in victory, Naruto made it to an open window. Only to be jerked back as everything metallic on Ino and him suddenly jerked the other direction. Naruto drew on every ounce of strength in his muscles to ensure he didn't accidently drop Ino, who yelped at the sudden sensation.

"I… forgot…" Naruto growled out past clenched teeth, clinging to the walls with such force that the concrete beneath his feet cracked. "Bastard… has… kekkei genkai."

Ino squealed as she was pulled from his shoulder. Before she could slip away, Naruto snatched her wrist, quickly reinforcing his grip with his other hand. A grunt of exertion escaped the Uzumaki's lips as he held tightly, almost to the point of cracking Ino's bones.

"P-Please, don't drop me!" Ino begged, looking up at his ruby, slit eyes.

Despite his newfound fearsome look, she wasn't afraid of him. Rather, she was comforted that Naruto was willing to throw out all the stops to save her. She was _far_ more concerned about the sand below—which was strangely silent, she noted offhandedly.

"Won't…happen," Naruto grunted out.

Below them, Gaara was frustrated. He hadn't wanted to resort to Jiton, but his quarry had almost escaped. It was far more chakra extensive than controlling his sand, but for the sake of feeling alive, his fellow jinchūriki couldn't leave this grave.

'_That's right!'_ Shukaku cackled in his mind. _'Feed him to our sand! Kill him, kill him, killhimkillhimkillhim…!"_

"You won't get away, Uzumaki," the redhead growled out.

"Idea…" said genin gritted to Ino. "Drop…all…metal…weaponry."

"A-Alright," she agreed.

Using her free hand, she opened all of her kunai pouches and hidden pockets filled with weaponry, and then dumped it all.

Which launched at high speeds towards Gaara.

The psychotic jinchūriki couldn't react fast enough. He was peppered so hard it sent him launching into the forest behind him with enough force to smash through several trees.

Bereft of the force pulling them towards the ground, Naruto and Ino launched into the air above like a rubber band launching from a finger, both squealing from the sudden momentum. They arced in the air, both getting dumped on the roof of the compound.

Besides gasping for air like goldfish outside the bowl, both remained silent for what felt like an eternity.

"F# & (gasp) my (gasp) life (gasp)," Naruto finally breathed out, lying spread-eagle on the roof.

"How many murder attempts is that now?" Ino asked, still high on adrenaline.

"Lost (gasp) count." The Uzumaki took several deep breaths so he could talk normally. "Okay, how much metal do we have on ourselves? 'Cause there's no way we were pulled that hard by our kunai and shuriken."

The Yamanaka blushed, though Naruto couldn't see it. "Sorry. Chainmail. I've got it all over my body. I started wearing it after you beat me."

"Well, that explains you…" Frowning, the jinchūriki pulled a frayed sleeve to his eyes, immediately identifying his problem. "Ah, so that's why these clothes were so heavy… Anko-nee and Iruka-sensei bought me clothes with metal weaving. It was supposed to be for extra protection. How ironic. It almost got me killed a couple seconds ago."

"Can we please get the hell outta here before he comes back?" Ino groaned out, the pain coming in waves as the adrenaline buzz faded away. "I think you broke my wrist…"

* * *

"Sonuvabitch…" Kankuro breathed, staring at the trail of destruction Gaara's launch created.

Temari felt her eyes go wide as she jogged up to her brother. "Good god… Did they _really_ just survive that?"

"No shit…" her brother agreed.

"Honestly, I'm beginning to have second thoughts about the plan," the eldest confessed. "If those are genin, then what the hell are the rest of Konoha's forces like?"

"At least now we know who Gaara wants to kill," Kankuro observed.

Temari personally felt impressed. The pair of Konoha genin had survived a round with Gaara, _even_ when he busted out Jiton. Not many claimed that score. Especially if they had _that_ much metal on their persons.

A conversation with this Naruto guy would be very interesting…

Their youngest sibling blankly stared at the sky from the trench his body carved out, relatively unharmed despite the number of kunai and shuriken sticking out from his sand armor. Though it was last second, Shukaku had reinforced his _Suna no Yoroi_ to an extreme level with chakra, enough so that his skin hadn't broke.

For a minute—just a single minute—Gaara thought he had died. The attack was sudden and faster than he could've regularly countered. But he was alive.

Yes, _alive_…

The thought put a manic grin on his face, causing his siblings to back away. Then it turned into a chuckle that escalated into psychotic laughter.

Never before had he felt so… so _alive_! On the cusp of death, to taste the fear of dying, and then to come out of alive… What would it be like when he finally fed his chosen adversary to his sand?

Gaara's laughter calmed. "Yes, Uzumaki Naruto, you'll truly make me feel alive."

* * *

The Sound Four, with Sakon taking point, maneuvered through the canopy of Training Area Forty-Four, having bypassed the ANBU patrolling the perimeter. Orochimaru's elite guard made no sound as they moved to accomplish their mission: to release Shizuka back into the Forest of Death to fulfill Orochimaru's goals. It wasn't a desirable mission by any means (as Tayuya was kind enough to point out with her constantly foul mouth), but who were they to question their leader?

Shizuka, slung over Jirobo's shoulders while bound, gagged, and blindfolded, remained quiet and docile. But, she intended to change that _very_ quickly. Once the dolts stupidly released her, Shizuka intended to relieve some of her ever mounting frustration.

Unbeknownst to the four, Yakushi Kabuto was following just out of range of their sensing ability. Orochimaru and he were curious about Shizuka's full capabilities. Having gained the curse seal and her kekkei genkai taking to it strangely, the four-eyed ninja was sent to observe how she performed.

'_I wonder if they understand just how dangerous their cargo really is…'_ He mused humorously.

"This'll do," Sakon announced as he stopped, prompting his fellows to follow suit.

When her feet touched the ground, Shizuka inwardly grinned. The moment Orochimaru's stooges undid her bindings and pulled the blindfold off, the fiery redhead began her assault. Her butterfly knife flipped into position instantly, followed with a spin that sliced into Tayuya's, Jirobo's, and Kidomaru's arms—only Sakon got away unscathed. It was nothing detrimental to their performance, but it forced the bodyguards back.

"I thought we were on the same side!" Jirobo barked, hands already reaching for the earth.

"Hey, fat-ass!" Tayuya said. "Does the little bitch look like she's on our side?"

Shizuka lightly chuckled. "Same side? Yeah, right… Let me outline the rules given to me: I cannot disobey the snake-bastard or his butt-monkey, I can't attack them, and I have to keep the fact that I'm working for them a secret. So, where's the part that says I can't kill you four for a little revenge?"

Sakon laughed. "You really think you can defeat us? That's rich! We're the Sound Four, Orochimaru's elite guards!"

"Oh, good. That means you won't die on me immediately," she countered derisively. "I needed a chew toy—or a few—to work out my frustrations on."

"_Motherfucking bitch_!" Tayuya snarled, pulling out her flute. "I'm going to stick your remains in a jar of formaldehyde_, and then piss in it!_"

Komoriuta dangerously smirked as she closed her eyes, slowly pulling off her welder's goggles. The Sound Four tensed, aware of the powerful dōjutsu below the eyewear.

They'd been warned about Shizuka Komoriuta's dangerous potential. According to Kabuto, the redhead could theoretically hold her own against Kimimaro and they knew how strong the last Kaguya was. They couldn't take chances, not in this fight.

"Didn't Orochimaru tell you?" she wistfully asked them, opening her arms wide as if to beckon them.

"Tell us what?!" Kidomaru spat.

The spider-like shinobi blinked. Just blinked. And there she was, gripping the sides of his head, as if directing him to make eye contact.

"Didn't he tell you how _weak_ you really are?" Shizuka answered.

All Hell broke loose.

**Kill Joy no Jutsu (A.K.A. Author's Note):** God, getting this chapter out was a real chore. At certain points it felt like I had to force it out harder than constipation; I know you can't do that as a writer, but the only way to get over writer's block is to write. A catch-22 if I've ever heard one. However, I did go over it to ensure it was smoothed out, insure the symbolism was appropriate, and create proper foreshadowing.

However, I'm absolutely relieved that we're coming out of the Forest of Death and into the prelims. I've been looking forward to these. I think we'll zoom through the prelims in just a couple chapters; or at least I hope so.

There's a bit more Shizuka than the last several chapters have displayed. I was so dissatisfied with her dream scene I rewrote it three times. But, I got her symbol. Naruto's is a silver flower; hers is a white apple, a reflection of her ability to make illusions and fantasies reality. I've also wanted to give her a human outline, to make my readers emphasize with her a bit more. As to the Sound Four, did she bit off more than she could chew (as she's been known to do) or will she actually curb stomp them? We'll see more… hopefully.

And yes, that was a reference to Snow White. I'm saying it now because it's going to pop up on somebody's review.

That said… I've been experiencing chronic depression. If all of you readers wonder why updates don't occur often, well, that's why. It doesn't sound horrible, but when I'm experiencing them I develop two types of attitude: I-don't-give-a-rat's-ass and I-don't-wanna-do-anything. You'd think moving to Northern Nevada would spark my creativity because I'd have nothing else to do, but nope, the social isolation just screwed me over mentally. Either way, I intend to deal with it one way the other.

Okay, now that I'm done making excuses (pathetic, I know), I've got great news. People have been asking for it for God-knows-how-long. Now, the dream is a reality. Jinchūriki Nine will be coming back. I don't intend to post it for a while, but several chapters are on their way to being finished. I know, I have several fictions to worry 'bout, but with me discontinuing Memories of the Nevermore, I'll have an open slot for it.

Can anybody guess where the chapter title comes from?

I don't have any techniques for the Forbidden Scroll, but when Shizuka uses her cursed seal for the first time, I'll explain it there. As well as the technique Orochimaru is using to subjugate her.

And if you read all that, congratulations. You must really like my stories, if that's the case.


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